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Maneka Gandhi’s most remembered fight may have been with her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, but as a member of the Vajpayee Cabinet, her contest with the then Health Minister CP Thakur is the most significant one in her profile as a politician. CP Thakur, a trained physician and scientist, was pitted against Gandhi when she opposed scientific experiments on animals. Gandhi is known for her devotion to animal rights and fought a pitched battle against Thakur over research on animals.
The usually reticent Thakur was provoked into siding strongly with the scientists and the Cabinet witnessed hot exchanges between the two. Gandhi shifted her constituency to Pilibhit from Aonla where she nearly lost to the then Samajwadi Party candidate Dharmendra Kashyap in the 2009 elections. The BJP’s election in-charge in Uttar Pradesh, Amit Shah, invited Dharmendra Kashyap to join the BJP this time and Gandhi had to vacate the constituency for the new candidate. She contested and won from Pilibhit where her son Varun Gandhi had won last time.
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