India observes 108th birth anniversary the late Congress leader Feroze Gandhi on September 12. Feroze Gandhi was born on September 12, 1912. He was a freedom fighter, journalist and politician. Feroze Gandhi was born as Feroze Jehangir Ghandy to a Parsi family at the Tehmulji Nariman Hospital in Bombay, now Mumbai. His parents, Jehangir Faredoon Ghandy and Ratimai, lived in Nauroji Natakwala Bhawan in Khetwadi Mohalla of the city. Indira Gandhi 102nd Birth Anniversary: Lesser Known Facts About The 'Iron Lady' of India.

Feroze Gandhi's father was a marine engineer in Killick Nixon. He was the youngest of the five children with two brothers and two sisters. His family had migrated to Bombay from Bharuch. After the death of his father, Feroze and his mother moved to Allahabad to live with his unmarried maternal aunt. Rajiv Gandhi 76th Birth Anniversary: Notable Quotes by The Congress Leader Who Served as Youngest PM of India.

Interesting Facts About Feroze Gandhi:

  • Feroze Gandhi began participating in the India Freedom struggle since 1930.

  • Feroze met Kamala Nehru and Indira among the women demonstrators picketing outside Ewing Christian College.

  • He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. Due to this reason he changed the spelling of his surname from "Ghandy" to "Gandhi" after joining the Independence movement.

  • He married Indira Nehru in March 1942 according to Hindu Rituals.

  • His wife Indira Gandhi and elder son Rajiv Gandhi later became Prime Ministers of India.

  • The couple had two children – Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi.

  • He served as a member of the provincial parliament in from 1950 and 1952.

  • He published the newspapers The National Herald and The Navjivan.

  • Feroze won independent India's first general elections in 1952, from Rae Bareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

  • In 1957, he was re-elected from Rae Bareli.

Feroze Gandhi was a critic of the Jawaharlal Nehru government. He was against growing nexus of Indian business houses and politicians. In the parliament in 1958, he raised the Haridas Mundhra scandal involving the government-controlled LIC insurance company. Feroze suffered a heart attack in 1958. He died in 1960 at the Willingdon Hospital, Delhi

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 12, 2020 08:20 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).