Maneka, the sole Gandhi family member in BJP government

NEW DELHI: Animal-rights activist Maneka Gandhi made a comeback to the union cabinet as the only member of the Gandhi family in the BJP-led government.

The seven-time MP and younger daughter-in-law of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi was also in the council of ministers during the previous NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the first Animal Welfare Minister of the country.

In just-concluded Lok Sabha election, Maneka won from the Pilibhit constituency by a margin of over 3 lakh votes.

Maneka Gandhi joined active politics after the death of her husband Sanjay Gandhi in an air crash in 1980 and floated her own political outfit in March 1983 after she fell-out with her mother-in-law.

However, she had lost the 1984 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi and lost to former Prime Minister and her brother-in-law Rajiv Gandhi.

Though Maneka Gandhi was part of the NDA government under Vajpayee, she joined BJP officially only in 2004.