Motilal Nehru

Motilal Nehru (6 May 1861 - 6 February 1931) was born to a Kashmiri Pandit family and became one of the first generation of young Indians to receive a Westernised education. He qualified "Bar at law" from Cambridge and enlisted as a lawyer in the English courts. Later, he became a barrister and settled in the city of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He was also an early Indian independence activist, and served twice as the president of the Indian National Congress.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru  (14 November 1889 - 27 May 1964) was an Indian statesman who was the first, and is to date the longst-serving, Prime Minister of India. He served from 1947 until 1964, and was a leading figure in the Indian independence movement. He was educated in Britain, at Harrow School, an independent school for boys, followed by Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. Nehru was a prolific writer in English and wrote a number of books, such as, The Discovery of India, and Glimpses of World History. His autobiography, Towards Freedom (also known as 'An Autobiography'), ran nine editions in the first year alone. In his lifetime, Jawaharlal Nehru enjoyed an iconic status in India and was widely admired across the world for his idealism and statesmanship.

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (19 November 1917 - 31 October 1984) was the Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977, and for a fourth term from 1980 until her assassination in 1984, a total of fifteen years. She was India's first and only female Prime Minister. Gandhi attended the Badminton School for girls in Bristol, England. She later studied at Somerville College at the University of Oxford. She was the only child of Jawaharlal and Kamala Nehru, and was brought up in an intense political environment at the Nehru family residence, Anand Bhawan, where she spent her childhood years. During her years in continental Europe and the UK, she met Feroze Gandhi, and they later married.

Feroze Gandhi

Feroze Gandhi (12 September 1912 - 8 September 1960) was an Indian politician and journalist, and publisher of the National Herald and The Navjivan newspapers from Lucknow. He attended the Vidya Mandir High School, and then graduated from the British-staffed Ewing Christian College. Later, he studied at the London School of Economics. He was a member of the provincial parliament and later a member of the Lok Sabha from Rai Bareli.

Sanjay Gandhi

Sanjay Gandhi (14 December 1946 - 23 June 1980) was the younger son of Indira and Feroze Gandhi. He studied at the Welham Boys' School and The Doon School in Dehradoon, and at St. Columba's School in New Delhi. He also took an apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce in Crewe, England. Maruti Udyog, India's premier automobile manufacturing corporation, was founded by Sanjay Gandhi. He was elected to a parliamentary seat from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and was seen as a strong, powerful leader, and launched radical drives, such as cleansing Delhi of slums. He also initiated a widespread family planning program to limit population growth. He died in an air crash near Safdarjung Airport in New Delhi on June 23, 1980.

Maneka Gandhi

Maneka Gandhi is an Indian politician, animal rights activist and environmentalist. She has been a Minister in four governments, and has authored a number of books in the areas of etymology, law and animal welfare. She was educated at the Lawrence School, Sanawar, and later at Lady Shri Ram College for Women in New Delhi. She had become politically active after Sanjay Gandhi's death, and in March 1983, she announced the formation of a new political party named after her husband - Rashtriya Sanjay Manch. She joined the Janata Dal in 1988, and served as the general secretary from 1988-1989. She won her first election in 1989, and served as Minister of Environment from 1989 to 1991 in the cabinet of VP Singh. In 1996 and 1998, she was reelected to the Lok Sabha as an independent member from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh. She also served in the Bharatiya Janata Party led governments as Minister of State for Social Justice and Enpowerment, and Minister of Culture. She created the Department of Animal Welfare and served as its Minister along with other portfolios.

While serving as Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, she played a historic role in the Indian pension reforms effort, through the early phase of Project OASIS (Old Age Social and Income Security). She contested the 2004 Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket from Pilibhit. She gave up the seat for her son, Varun, during the 2009 General Elections, and won from the Aonla seat in Uttar Pradesh. Mrs Gandhi started the organisation People for Animals in 1992 - the largest organisation for animal rights/welfare in India.