Mysterious foreigner: Kangana Ranaut targets Sonia Gandhi over Maneka's isolation

BJP MP Kangana Ranaut questioned Sonia Gandhi's rise within the Gandhi family after an old video showing Maneka Gandhi's apparent isolation resurfaced. Her remarks coincided with the release of Sonia Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love.Actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has reignited controversy over the Gandhi family's history, questioning Sonia Gandhi's entry into the political dynasty and describing the sequence of events surrounding its prominent members as “way too many coincidences”.Ranaut's remarks came as an archival home video from around 1981 resurfaced on social media. The footage shows a family dinner attended by Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi and young Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi.Coincidentally, the remarks came on the very same day when Sonia Gandhi's memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love released.A phone call announcing Rajiv Gandhi's lead in the Amethi by-election interrupts the gathering, prompting a visible reaction from Indira Gandhi. Watch Maneka Gandhi when the news from Amethi comes in. Indira smiles. Rajiv has won. And at the same table sits the young widow of the man whose death made the by-election necessary. Sanjay had died in a plane crash nearly a year earlier. You can understand Indira’s relief at seeing her surviving son win. You can also watch the clip and find yourself waiting for someone to turn to Maneka. That moment never comes in the footage we see/1— Tattvam Asi ( !) (@Brahamvakya) November 10, 2026 However, the person who shared the clip drew attention to Maneka Gandhi, who was also present at the dinner. Sanjay Gandhi's widow appears to remain apart from the family's celebrations in the footage.The accompanying post pointed out the contrast between Indira Gandhi's reaction to the election news and Maneka's position at the table, noting that Sanjay had died in a plane crash nearly a year earlier. It also observed that no one appeared to turn towards Maneka during the moment captured in the video.Ranaut reacted to the footage by describing Maneka's apparent isolation as heartbreaking. In her post, she said Maneka appeared to be looking towards her mother-in-law for a gesture of comfort but received no response. (Credits: X/Sonia Gandhi) “Even in the end of the clip everyone leaves but Maneka stays looking at Mrs Gandhi like a wounded little child seeking some comfort, may be a little smile or a gaze in her direction,” Ranaut wrote.She also questioned how Sonia Gandhi became closely associated with the Gandhi family, referring to her meeting with Rajiv Gandhi at a cafe abroad.KANGANA QUESTIONS GANDHI FAMILY'S POLITICAL HISTORYRanaut went on to revisit the deaths of Sanjay Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, suggesting that the sequence of events had paved the way for Sonia Gandhi's eventual prominence in the Congress.Sanjay Gandhi died in a plane crash in June 1980. Rajiv Gandhi subsequently entered electoral politics and won the Amethi by-election in 1981.Maneka Gandhi left the family home in 1982 following differences with Indira Gandhi.Indira Gandhi was assassinated in October 1984, while Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a suicide bombing during an election campaign in Tamil Nadu in May 1991.Ranaut described Sonia Gandhi as a “mysterious foreign national” and questioned the circumstances that led to her becoming the central figure in the Gandhi family after the deaths of its other prominent members.Her remarks, however, did not provide evidence linking Sonia Gandhi to any of the deaths.Ranaut's comments also drew on her research for the 2025 film Emergency, in which she portrayed former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.- Ends