‘Something within has died’, laments Tanwar’s wife

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 7

When Ashok Tanwar resigned from the Congress on Saturday, his wife Avantika Maken Tanwar, who shares a close bond with party president Sonia Gandhi, was shattered. “It felt as if something within me had died," she says.

Avantika was only six years old when her parents Geetanjali and Lalit Maken were gunned down by Sikh extremists outside their Kirti Nagar residence in West Delhi on July 31, 1985. Sonia Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi (then PM) were among the first to reach their house and console a sobbing Avantika.

For her, it has always been Sonia 'aunty', who played a key role in a number of decisions she took, including her marriage with Tanwar after her first marriage failed.

“The sight of Congress flags being removed from our Sirsa and Delhi residences was too disturbing to describe in words. When I was told that pictures of Rajiv ji and Rahul ji were to be removed, I put my foot down. How could have I allowed the pictures of those I have revered all my life be removed?

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“My younger son Adikarta (13) started crying. He adores Rahul ji and would enter a fight with anyone criticising the former Congress chief. He has been upset for the past three days. The pictures still adorn the walls of our residence."

Avantika's maternal grandfather Shankar Dayal Sharma was the ninth President of India during 1992-1997. It was when he was Governor of Andhra Pradesh that her parents were killed. “Rajiv ji came to our residence with Sonia ji after my parents were killed. He asked me where I wanted to live. I told him I wanted to go to my maternal aunt's house in Chandigarh. He immediately ordered that my grandfather be transferred to Chandigarh as Punjab Governor,” she recalls.

Avantika’s maternal aunt Jaishree is married former Union Minister Venod Sharma’s younger brother Sham Sunder Sharma. “Sonia ji’s blessings have always been with me. I attended Priyanka ji’s wedding and she too came for my first wedding. When Ashok (Tanwar) decided to marry me, he approached Ashok Gehlot but was told to seek permission from Sonia ji first. She asked me whether I was happy with the proposal. I replied in the affirmative. She blessed us both,” recounts Avantika

Like Priyanka, who pardoned her father’s killer Nalini Murugan, Avantika too forgave her parents’ killer Ranjit Singh, alias Kukki, after she met his family.

“What else could Ashok Tanwar have done? His self-respect hurt, he was forced to quit,” observes Avantika, referring to her husband’s conflict with former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his removal from the post of state president.