Maneka was born in Delhi into a Sikh family. Her father was Indian Army officer Lt. Col.

Tarlochan
Singh Anand and her mother was Amteshwar Anand. She went to Lawrence School and later Lady
Shri Ram College for Women.[1][2] She subsequently studied German at Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi.[3]
She first met Sanjay Gandhi at a cocktail party thrown by Maneka's uncle Major-General Kapur to
celebrate the forthcoming marriage of his son Veenu Kapur in 1973. Maneka eventually married
Sanjay, the son of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi one year later on 23 September 1974.[4]
The Emergency saw the rise of Sanjay into politics and Maneka was seen with him almost every
time on his tours as she helped him in campaigns. It is often said that during the Emergency, Sanjay
Gandhi had total control over his mother and that the government was run by the PMH (Prime
Minister House) rather than the PMO (Prime Minister Office).[5][6][7]
Maneka Gandhi founded the news magazine Surya which later played a key role in promotion of the
Congress party after its defeat in the 1977 election following the Emergency.
She went to court to fight an attempt by the government in power at the time to confiscate her
passport and won a landmark decision on personal liberty. In the case of Maneka Gandhi v Union of
India,[8] the court found that "Democracy is based essentially on free debate and open discussion, for
that is the only corrective of government action in a democratic setup."
She gave birth to a son in 1980 named Feroze after his paternal grandfather. Her mother-in-law
added the name Varun. Maneka was just twenty-three years old and her son just 100 days old,
when her husband, Sanjay, died in an air crash.[9]
Maneka's relationship with Indira Gandhi gradually disintegrated after Sanjay's death and they would
continually argue with one another. She was eventually forced out of 1, Safdarjung Road, the prime
minister's residence after a fallout with Indira.[2] She founded the Rashtriya Sanjay Manch along
with Akbar Ahmed Dumpy. The party primarily focused on youth empowerment and employment. It
won four out of five seats in the Elections in Andhra Pradesh.
Maneka Gandhi published 'The Complete Book of Muslim and Parsi Names', in recognition of her
husband's Zoroastrian faith.[10][11]
She later published 'The Book of Hindu Names' (Penguin).