Speculations and interest in the relationship between Gandhi and Bachchan have been revived after Sonia Gandhi came out in support of Jaya Bachchan and the then Lok Sabha president allegedly made some disparaging remarks about the actress-turned-MP .
In the forecourt of the new parliament building, Jaya and Sonia were seen united, looking frustrated but friendly. Is it political or personal? Or a combination of both?
Like Gandhi, the Bachchans crafted their political legacies. Bachchan patriarch Harvansh Rai Bachchan was given a term in the Rajya Sabha as early as 1966 due to his close relationship with the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. What followed was the famous 'Dostana' between Rajiv Gandhi and Amitabh Bachchan, when Rajiv was the Prime Minister and Amitabh was the Member of Parliament from Allahabad. Five years later, in July 2004, Jaya entered Parliament along with Sonia Gandhi. In April 2024, Sonia Gandhi joined her in the Union House. The two may live in the house until 2030.
Unlike Harivansh Rai (nominated MP) or Amitabh (Congress), Jaya's political journey has been with the Samajwadi Party, which The party was often at loggerheads with the Congress party. In October 2004, Jaya delivered a speech at Siddur in Barabanki district and launched a thinly veiled attack on the Congress party led by Sonia, saying: “Mere devar Amar Singh sach mein Thakur hain, jo kehte hain woh karte hain. Aap Samajwadi Party ko vote dijiye, yeh log vade aur rishte nibhana jante hain. (My brother-in-law is a true Thakur; he means what he says. Please vote for Samajwadi Party because these people know How to keep promises and relationships).
At that time, the Gandhi family was back in power, and some ordinary friends believed that this meant that the Bachchan family would not be far behind. But at that time, Sonia and Rahul did not hide their anger. Problems in the relationship, previously known only to a few, are now out in the open. There was intense media speculation as to what had gone wrong with Dosti 1.
Gandhi and Bachchan had a long, cherished and often checkered relationship. The story of their friendship dates back to the Anand Bhawan days of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Indira was not yet married at the time, and Sarojini Naidu introduced poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan and his Sikh wife Teji to To Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter as a “poet and poet”.
Amitabh was not yet four years old when he was introduced to Rajiv, who was two years old at the time. A masquerade party was held at his residence on Bakhchan Bank Road in Allahabad, where Rajiv dressed up as a freedom fighter.
When Nehru moved to New Delhi to serve as the teenage Murthy Bhawan as India's first Prime Minister, Rajiv and his brother Sanjay were often spotted hanging out with the Bachchan siblings Amitabh and Ajitab and the British Adil Shahyar, son of Dila aide Muhammad Yunus, plays with Kabir Bedi.
While Rajiv and Sanjay studied at Doon School, Amitabh and Ajitab studied at Sherwood School in Nainital. Around the same time, during the holidays in New Delhi, the boys met and swam every day in the pool at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
While the Rashtrapati Bhavan screened European films exclusively for the Nehru-Gandhi family, Rajiv and Sanjay exposed Amitabh to avant-garde cinema. Amitabh recalls watching films like Cranes Fly with Rajiv and Sanjay as well as other Czech, Polish and Russian films rich in anti-war messages.
Indira's close aide Yashpal Kapoor was very fond of Amitabh. Kapoor, known for toppling opposition governments in various states, is said to have tried to get Amitabh admitted to Delhi's prestigious St. Stephen's College. For some reason, Amitabh did not join and preferred to shift to Kirorimal College (maybe because of better course options), but his younger brother Ajitabh studied Economics at Stephen's College.
Amitabh's first break in Bollywood was in KA Abbas's Hindustan, which was set against the backdrop of the liberation of Goa. Abbas was considered close to then Prime Minister Indira and she was rumored to have had a few words for the struggling actor. But Abbas firmly denied acting on Indira's request.
Harivansh Rai, who later became a member of the Lok Sabha, was drafted into the Ministry of External Affairs by the Nehru government, while Teji was appointed director of the Film Finance Corporation in 1973. At this time married Jaya. The guest list was very short, but Sanjay, representing the Gandhi family, was in attendance.
When Amitabh became an actor, Rajiv would often visit him on the sets, staying extremely low-key and waiting patiently for him to complete a scene. “It was in his nature to never misuse his surname,” Amitabh recalled. “Rajiv usually did not reveal his surname for fear that it would create distance between him and the common man.
Then there are emergencies. Amitabh, who was often seen in Sanjay's company, faced media wrath for supporting the company. On April 11, 1976, an event called “Geeton Bhari Sham” was held in Delhi, ostensibly to raise funds for the controversial family planning program of Sanjay and Rukhsana Sultana (mother of actress Amrita Singh). Amitabh and Jaya were in Sanjay's company.
It is known that when Rajiv decided to marry Sonia, she had been with Bachchan before their marriage. Some of the wedding ceremonies, like Sonia's mehndi ceremony, were held at Bachchan's house. Sonia retained her feelings for Teji, and when she arrived in Delhi as Rajiv Gandhi's fiancée in 1968 and was placed with the Bachchan family, Teji acted as her godmother and taught her Indian customs.
“I learned a lot from them. Aunt Teji was my second…no, my third mother (after her own mother and mother-in-law Indira Gandhi),” Sonia said in 1985 said in an interview in 2016. “Amit and Bunty (Ajitabh) are my brothers.”
The Bachchans reportedly distanced themselves from the Nehru-Gandhi family when the Gandhis fell from power and the BJP government began to put pressure on Indira. The Sanjay family claims that when Indira stepped down, there was an offer to invite the Bachchan family to a public meeting, but Teji reportedly declined citing his son's career. Sanjay was reportedly furious and the relationship between the two families temporarily broke down. Sanjay arrives in Mumbai after losing power but is also upset when his friend Amitabh doesn't come to pick him up, a task the actor seems to enjoy immensely in his happy moments.
When actress Nargis bagged the coveted Lok Sabha nomination, there was a fine line between Gandhians and Bachchans. Indira was close to Teji Bachchan and selected Nargis as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1980. In a fragmented column in a magazine edited by Indira's other Bahu Maneka. But Indira staunchly defended her decision, insisting that Nargis deserved the recognition more than anyone else.
Cut to the post-1984 era, when Rajiv took over as Prime Minister and Amitabh was an influential Congressman. Amitabh was disappointed when he abruptly left politics after the uproar over the Bofors incident. Superman is accused of being the middleman. Amitabh fought for his honor and won a lengthy legal battle, but he was unable to sever his ties to politics. Amitabh's break with Gandhi contributed uniquely to Rajiv's downfall, as the 1987 Allahabad Lok Sabha by-elections gave the fragmented opposition a sense that they could unite and give the Congress a 542-member Has 413 members.
Relations between the two countries can never be fully restored. Rajiv was killed on May 21, 1991 in Sriperumbudur.
In 2024, political reality appears to be holding up well. The sudden passion between Sonia and Jaya seems to be more political than personal. The Gandhi family joined the INDI alliance along with their good friends Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav and more importantly, the grand old party did very good. The political fortunes of the Congress party are closely tied to the Samajwadi Party's control of Uttar Pradesh. “Renewed Friendship” may be an acknowledgment of these harsh political realities that there is still much to be done.
The author is a visiting fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. A noted political analyst, he has written several books, including “24 Akbar Road” and “Sonia: A Biography.” The views expressed in the above article are solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of News18.
