அந்தக் கால வம்பு: சோனியாவும் மேனகா காந்தியும்

பாஸ்டன் பாலா

இந்திரா காந்திக்கும் அவருடைய இரண்டாம் மருமகளான மனேகா காந்திக்கும் இடையிலான மோதலை, மாமியார் மருமகள் சண்டையைப் பற்றி குஷ்வந்த் சிங் விரிவாக எழுதியுள்ளார்.

மேனகா காந்தியை தன் நேர்முக உதவியாளராக இந்திரா காந்தி நியமித்தார். இதை சோனியா காந்தி கடுமையாக எதிர்த்தார். தன் நாடான இத்தாலிக்கே தன் குடும்பத்துடன் திரும்பிப் போய்விடுவதாக மிரட்டினார். இந்திரா காந்தியால் ஒன்றும் செய்யமுடியவில்லை. இந்திராகாந்தி, மேனகாவை வீட்டை விட்டுத் துரத்தி விட்டார். பத்திரிகைகள் மாமியார் மருமகள் சண்டையைப் பெரிது படுத்தின.

Kushwant Singh in his autobiography, “Truth, Love and a Little Malice”.

Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi were both defeated in the elections held in 1977 after the Emergency. The Janata Government appointed the Shah Commission to inquire into the misdeeds of the mother, Indira Gandhi and the son, Sanjay Gandhi. “Splits in the Gandhi family widened!” Rajiv’s envy for the sudden eruption of his never do-well brother now turned into hate. He held Sanjay responsible perhaps rightly, for the catastrophic fall the status of the family ……….. neither he nor his Italian wife Sonia did anything to prop up Mrs Gandhi’s shattered morale, and withdrew in to their one-family sub shell. Sanjay had no option but to fight back. In the hour of crisis it was Maneka who showed surprising reserves of strength and guts. Sanjay Gandhi, died on the morning of Monday the 23.june 1980, crashing his two-seater plane on the southern Ridge in Delhi. (Page No. 288).

“….it did not take long after Sanjay’s tragic death for the Gandhis to make it known to Menaka that she was a misfit in the Prime Minister’s residence. A week after Sanjay’s death Mrs Indira Gandhi suggested to Menaka on her own that she worked as her Secretary. A few days later Dhirendera Brahmachari came to her room to inform her that Indira Gandhi was too embarrassed to tell her so, but Sonia had put her foot down on the proposal and threatened to return to Italy with her family unless Mrs Indira Gandhi withdrew the offer to Menaka.

“….. the rest of the story is that Indira Gandhi did not like Menaka Gandhi to stay in her home. Mrs Indira Gandhi decided to throw Menaka Gandhi out of her house and there was a terrible fight, between the spirited Menaka and Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister. The disgusting story and the scenes of the fight and the abusive words hurled at one another by Indiraji and Menaka are described in detail by Khushwant Singh in his auto biography (page 294)