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Sanjay Gandhi escaped three assassination attempts: WikiLeaks
A fresh US cable exposed by WikiLeaks has revealed that three assassination attempts were made on Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi during the Emergency.
Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: A fresh US cable exposed by WikiLeaks has revealed that three assassination attempts were made on Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi during the Emergency, a leading English daily reported on Thursday.
As per the cable dispatched in September 1976 by the US embassy here, Sanjay Gandhi was the target of a "well planned assassination attempt" by an unknown assailant. The attempt, however, failed. As per the cable, the incident occurred during the Emergency.
The cable states, in one of the incident, a high-powered rifle was used when Sanjay, the son of former PM Indira Gandhi, was on a visit to Uttar Pradesh. "Indira Gandhi`s son Sanjay was shot three times on August 30 or 31 by an unknown assailant," the cable states. The information in the cable, which was based on a source, said Sanjay escaped the attempts.
The cable did not say the extent and nature of injuries which Sanjay suffered.
"According to Indian intelligence, this is the third attempt on the younger Gandhi`s life," the cable states.
Sanjay was eventually killed in a plane crash in Delhi on June 23, 1980. Sanjay was 33 years old when he was killed. `Sanjay small fry`
Another US cable released by WikiLeaks disclosed that Sanjay`s mother Indira Gandhi had once said that he was a `small fry`. She went on to say that he would neither become prime minister or president.
"He is much too small a fry or person because he is not going to be the prime minister or the president. All he can be is a Congress worker. So I think the attack is definitely on me," Indira had said on December 27, 1976, at the height of Emergency when Sanjay Gandhi was calling the shots in the government and the Congress.
"In fact I think he never would have come into politics if there had not been that tremendous attack on him in Parliament even before the Emergency because basically he was not interested in any of these things," the cable quoted Indira Gandhi as saying.
New Delhi: A fresh US cable exposed by WikiLeaks has revealed that three assassination attempts were made on Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi during the Emergency, a leading English daily reported on Thursday.
As per the cable dispatched in September 1976 by the US embassy here, Sanjay Gandhi was the target of a "well planned assassination attempt" by an unknown assailant. The attempt, however, failed. As per the cable, the incident occurred during the Emergency.
The cable states, in one of the incident, a high-powered rifle was used when Sanjay, the son of former PM Indira Gandhi, was on a visit to Uttar Pradesh. "Indira Gandhi`s son Sanjay was shot three times on August 30 or 31 by an unknown assailant," the cable states. The information in the cable, which was based on a source, said Sanjay escaped the attempts.
The cable did not say the extent and nature of injuries which Sanjay suffered.
"According to Indian intelligence, this is the third attempt on the younger Gandhi`s life," the cable states.
Sanjay was eventually killed in a plane crash in Delhi on June 23, 1980. Sanjay was 33 years old when he was killed. `Sanjay small fry`
Another US cable released by WikiLeaks disclosed that Sanjay`s mother Indira Gandhi had once said that he was a `small fry`. She went on to say that he would neither become prime minister or president.
"He is much too small a fry or person because he is not going to be the prime minister or the president. All he can be is a Congress worker. So I think the attack is definitely on me," Indira had said on December 27, 1976, at the height of Emergency when Sanjay Gandhi was calling the shots in the government and the Congress.
"In fact I think he never would have come into politics if there had not been that tremendous attack on him in Parliament even before the Emergency because basically he was not interested in any of these things," the cable quoted Indira Gandhi as saying.