Family Feud

Gandhi vs. Gandhi

It is a favorite theme of Indian movies: domineering mother vs. misunderstood daughter-in-law. Now the country is going to be treated to a live, political version of the drama as Maneka Gandhi, 26, takes on her illustrious mother-in-law, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Last week the sharp-tongued Maneka, who is the widow of Indira's youngest son and one time heir apparent, Sanjay, announced that she will launch her own political party. What is more, she will oppose Rajiv, Indira's eldest son and current heir apparent, in the next elections for the north Indian parliamentary seat of Amethi.

Maneka has named her new party Rashtriya Sanjay Manch (National Sanjay Platform) in honor of her husband, who died in a 1980 plane crash. Over the past six months, Maneka claims, her movement has attracted 800,000 members, some of them disillusioned supporters of Indira's Congress (I) Party. Its charter: to work toward a democratic socialist state based on the ideals set forth by Mahatma Gandhi, who led the fight for India's independence (and to whom the currently feuding family is not related). Says an Indian newspaper editor: "One wonders which Gandhi she's talking about, the Mahatma or Sanjay? They are not the same. One was a saint. The other was very clever, very ambitious and very self-centered."

Such talk does not up set the slender (5 ft. 4 in., 99 lbs.) Maneka. Says she: "In India, women get into politics because of some man. I learned a lot from Sanjay." When TIME New Delhi Bureau Chief Dean Brelis asked her last week what she had learned from her mother-in-law, Maneka shot back, "What not to do." Maneka reports having her telephone tapped, her mail opened and her followers harassed. Says Maneka of the Prime Minister: "She treats India like her personal toy, pulling off its arms and its legs. As her party grows weaker, Mrs. Gandhi becomes more forceful."

Maneka's candidacy will force former Airline Pilot Rajiv, 38, who now holds the Amethi seat, into a fight for his political life. Although some experts believe Maneka can beat him, few see her as a threat to the Prime Minister in national elections, which Mrs. Gandhi is expected to hold within 15 months. In her new role, though, Maneka is sure to prove an ever sharper irritant to the Prime Minister.

Sighs a Bombay movie producer: "As a drama, Gandhi vs. Gandhi has all the makings of a box-office smash. I wish I could make it." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.