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Those whom the Gods love...

Born: December 14, 1946
Died: June 23, 1980
Age: 33

Sanjay Gandhi crashed his plane on a routine flight over New Delhi one June morning a quarter of a century ago.

At the time of his death, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's younger son was her most important advisor. She was grooming him to head the Congress party and eventually succeed her in politics.

On his return from England in the 1960s, where he did an apprenticeship at Rolls Royce, Sanjay got involved in politics. He also took on the project of creating a small, budget car for Indian conditions and helped establish Maruti Udyog Limited.

As his mother's political guide -- though he held no office nor had he been elected to power -- Sanjay helped enforce the Emergency (June 25, 1975 to January 18, 1977) and is blamed for the many excesses of her government during that dark period in Indian history.

Both Indira and Sanjay Gandhi lost the 1977 general election, the Congress party was routed, and the Janata Party came to power. Both mother and son were arrested, but the Janata Party government collapsed in July 1979.

In January 1980, the Congress party and Indira Gandhi returned to power. Sanjay Gandhi won a seat in the Lok Sabha from Amethi, but before he could fulfill his mother's dreams for him, he was dead. His son Feroze Varun, born on March 5, 1980, was only three months old.