Ambika Soni, Amitabh Bachchan

Feb. 22: Senior Congress leaders are counting on their “old association” with Sanjay Gandhi to get an invitation to son Varun’s wedding.

Last Wednesday, Varun had met Sonia “chachi” to invite her for the wedding.

The 31-year-old BJP member of Parliament from Pilibhit is set to marry graphic designer Yamini Roy in Varanasi on March 6. It remains to be seen if Sonia, the eldest member on Varun’s paternal side, will attend the wedding.

There is a talk of Priyanka, her husband and children representing the Nehru-Gandhi family at the event in Varanasi, Rahul attending the reception in Delhi, and Sonia hosting a wedding dinner.

Indications are that veterans N. D. Tiwari, Pranab Mukherjee, A.K. Antony, Arjun Singh, Vidya Charan Shukla and R.K. Dhawan are certain to get invitations.

Sanjay’s close friends Kamal Nath and Ambika Soni are also expected to be invited. But there is an element of uncertainty over whether other Sanjay associates, such as Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmad Patel, Ashok Gehlot, Digvijay Singh, Jagdish Tytler and Vayalar Ravi, will be present at Hanuman Ghat on the bank of the Ganges in the temple town.

Another close Sanjay friend, Amitabh Bachchan, is unlikely to be part of Varun’s baraat. Though Sanjay had attended Amitabh’s in 1973, the actor has kept no contact with young Varun.

Varun was not invited when Abhishek Bachchan wed Aishwarya Rai in April 2007.

N.D. Tiwari, disgraced over a sex-scandal and a messy paternity row, was a self-proclaimed Sanjay-loyalist. As chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Tiwari had picked up Sanjay’s shoes much to his embarrassment.

Arjun Singh, too, was considered close to Sanjay. Weeks before Sanjay’s tragic death in an air crash in June 1980, Assembly polls were held in Madhya Pradesh. Arjun was one of the three candidates for the leadership of the Congress Legislature Party. A majority of the party MLAs favoured Shivbhan Singh Solanki, a tribal MLA from Jhabua, but Arjun became the chief minister thanks to Sanjay’s support.

Ambika’s entry in the Congress did not have Sanjay’s blessings as she was spotted by Indira in Rome, when the former Prime Minister was visiting Italy. Then a homemaker married to diplomat husband Uday, Ambika, who now holds the information and broadcasting portfolio in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet, would have perhaps been leading a retired person’s life had Indira not insisted on bringing her to India and appointing her general secretary of the Indian Youth Congress under Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi in the early 1970s. Ambika had been an instant hit in Delhi. In those days, Ambika was among the few who would walk beside Sanjay, rather than just follow him around.

In the Youth Congress, she not only shared the dais with Sanjay, but also matched his aggression. If Sanjay was a politician in a hurry to get things done, Ambika rarely faulted on delivery.

Both Kamal Nath and Tytler were close to Sanjay. During the Emergency, “Sanjay Gandhi ke do haath; Tytler aur Kamal Nath” had become a popular slogan.

The spotlight on Varun’s wedding has turned many Congress leaders nostalgic. Old-timers recall how Sanjay had married Maneka who was reportedly the third girl in his life. Earlier, Sanjay was going around with a Muslim girl from Mumbai, and a foreigner.

Sanjay had met Maneka at the residence of family retainer Mohammad Yunus. A retired general, B.D. Kapur, and his wife Kamla, who were settled abroad, were visiting Yunus. Maneka, Kapur’s niece, used to visit them regularly.

Maneka’s parents, T.S. Anand and Amteshwar, were staying in New Delhi’s Greater Kailash then.

For Sanjay and Maneka’s wedding in September 1974, the Kapurs suggested to Yunus that the wedding be held at 12 Willingdon Crescent, the official residence of Yunus.

The Pakhtun host faced a peculiar problem as the government had abandoned whitewashing official accommodations as per an austerity drive.

Yunus, got the exterior of his home whitewashed at his own cost, got some floodlights and arranged floral decoration. The Anands were told by Yunus not to pay for anything, including the dinner. Maneka remained extremely fond of “Yunus chacha” even after she had fallen out with Indira.