Mrs Gandhi leaves her estate to grandchildren

Press, 30 May 1985, Page 8

Mrs Gandhi leaves her estate to grandchildren

NZPA-Reuter New Delhi Mrs Indira Gandhi, the former Indian Prime Minister who was assassinated last October, left SUSIBO,OOO in property, shares, and money in her will and bequeathed it to her three grandchildren, the “Statesman” newspaper reported today. In a front-page report, it said Mrs Gandhi owned agricultural land and a farmhouse worth 1.2 million rupees ($US100,000) and

shares, bank accounts, and other moveable property worth 940,000 rupees ($US80,000). The newspaper said Mrs Gandhi left nothing to her son, Rajiv, the present Prime Minister, to his wife, Sonia, or to Maneka, the widow of her other son, Sanjay, who died in an air crash in 1980. The will left everything to Priyanka and Rahul, the children of Rajiv and Sonia, and to Varun, Maneka’s son. The newspaper quoted the

will, written in May, 1981, as saying the family’s wealth had declined since India’s independence in 1947. Mrs Gandhi’s father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was India’s first Prime Minister until his death in 1964. In a 1984 court case, Maneka challenged Mrs Gandhi’s right to a share in the property of Sanjay. The court ruled that Mrs Gandhi was entitled to a third of it, with Maneka and Varun.