Maneka Gandhi was born on 26 August 1956 and is an Indian politician, animal rights activist, and environmentalist.
27 Facts About Maneka Gandhi
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Maneka Gandhi served as a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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Maneka Gandhi is the widow of Indian politician Sanjay Gandhi.
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Maneka Gandhi Anand was born on 26 August 1956 in Delhi, India, into a Sikh family.
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Maneka Gandhi attended The Lawrence School, Sanawar and later studied at Lady Shri Ram College for Women.
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Maneka Gandhi subsequently studied German at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.
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Maneka Gandhi founded the news magazine Surya, which later played a key role in promoting the Congress party after its defeat in the 1977 election following the Emergency.
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In 1980, Maneka Gandhi gave birth to a son, Feroze, named after his paternal grandfather.
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Maneka Gandhi was widowed at just twenty-three years old, with Varun only 100 days old, when her husband died in an air crash.
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Maneka's relationship with Indira Gandhi deteriorated following Sanjay's death, with frequent arguments leading to an eventual rift.
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Maneka Gandhi was ultimately asked to leave 1, Safdarjung Road, the prime minister's residence, after a dispute with Indira.
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Maneka Gandhi later published The Complete Book of Muslim and Parsi Names, acknowledging her husband's Zoroastrian heritage.
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Maneka Gandhi published The Penguin Book of Hindu Names for Boys.
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Maneka Gandhi is an environmentalist and animal rights advocate in India.
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Maneka Gandhi has earned international recognition and awards for her work.
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In 1996, Maneka Gandhi protested the opening of the first McDonald's restaurant in India, stating that "we don't need cow killers in India" to justify her opposition.
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Maneka Gandhi has filed Public Interest Litigations that led to the replacement of municipal killing of homeless dogs with a sterilization program, regulated the sale of airguns, and banned mobile or traveling zoos.
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Maneka Gandhi serves on the boards of Eurosolar and the Wuppertal Institute in Germany.
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In 1992, Maneka Gandhi founded People for Animals, now the largest animal rights organization in India.
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Maneka Gandhi hosted the weekly television program Heads and Tails, which highlighted the suffering of animals due to commercial exploitation, and later authored a book with the same title.
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In September 2023, Maneka Gandhi advocated for protecting Dol Ka Badh forest in Jaipur, writing a letter to the chief secretary of Rajasthan with examples supporting the forest's conservation.
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In June 2021, Maneka Gandhi called a veterinarian, threatening to cancel his license over what she deemed a botched amputation surgery on a dog.
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In June 2017, during a Facebook Live session, Maneka Gandhi claimed that men do not commit suicide.
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Maneka Gandhi then spent the rest of the session responding to related questions.
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In June 2020, Kerala police filed a case against Maneka Gandhi following complaints that her statements regarding the death of a pregnant elephant promoted communal hatred.
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Maneka Gandhi accused residents of the Muslim-majority district Malappuram, despite the elephant's death occurring in a different district, Palakkad, approximately 90 km away.
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BJP leaders, including Maneka Gandhi, focused on Malappuram in their statements.