From love letters to happy threesome: 4 rumoured affairs of India's first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (1889-1964) was the first Prime Minister of India. Born on November 14, 1889, he was an anti-colonial nationalist, social democrat and statesman who fought against the British alongside Mahatma Gandhi. Nehru was a primary leader in the Indian Independence Movement and spent many years in prison during the freedom struggle.

While Jawaharlal Nehru was a very prominent political leader respected by many for his work in the freedom struggle, there were many rumours and speculations surrounding his personal life. Many books and accounts mentioned Nehru's name alongside several female leaders of that time, suggesting that the leader had affairs with them despite being married to Kamala Nehru. While his relationship with Edwina Mountbatten — wife of Lord Louis Mountbatten — remains most widely documented, there were many other women rumoured to have had a special relationship with Nehru.

According to these rumours many educated women from the elite class were attracted to Nehru's charisma. One such woman was Dinesh Nandini Dalmia, a Hindi writer, poet and prominent female figure of her time, who was rumoured to be deeply in love with Nehru, although her feelings remained unrequited. Another story is of Lady Eugenie Wavell — wife of Field Marshal Archibald Wavell who became Viceroy of India in 1943. Lady Wavell was also reportedly infatuated with Nehru, but as an older woman who had a motherly demeanour, rumours about their relationship never gained attention. Let's look at four of the biggest rumours of Nehru's relationships.

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Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, famously known as Lord Mountbatten, was a British statesman who came to India as its last Viceroy and first Governor-General. He played an important role in negotiating the transfer of power to India and the Partition of the country into India and Pakistan in 1947. He came to India with his wife, Vicereine Lady Edwina Mountbatten, whose presence in the country was marked by controversies, particularly surrounding her relationship with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Many Historians and writers have debated the nature of their relationship, questioning whether it was purely intellectual or sexual. When Lord Mountbatten came to India in 1947, the country was facing many challenges. During this tense period, historian Andrew Lownie wrote that Nehru and Edwina developed an “immediate intimacy.” Even after Edwina left India, the two continued to exchange letters. In her book Daughter of Empire (2012), Edwina's daughter, Pamela Mountbatten, described their relationship as a form of love, although not a physical one.

Some accounts also suggest that when Edwina died, she was found with a bundle of letters sent to her by Nehru. Andrew Lownie, in The Lives and Loves of Edwina and Dickie Mountbatten (2019), also discussed the closeness between the two, placing their relationship in the political atmosphere of that time. Pamela Mountbatten described this dynamic as a “happy threesome.”

Mridula Sarabhai was a freedom fighter who was called ‘Boss’ at her home. She was the daughter of Ambalal Sarabhai, a supporter of Mahatma Gandhi, and the sister of nuclear scientist Vikram Sarabhai. Mridula was a prominent woman who knew both Gandhi and Nehru because of her family background. During Partition, she risked her life to rescue women from abduction and helped both Hindus and Muslims amid the communal violence of 1947. After Independence, Nehru provided her with an office at Constitution House.

In her youth, Mridula was deeply influenced by Nehru, but their relationship was also shaped by India's political environment. Gopal Krishna Gandhi, former Governor of West Bengal and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, wrote in an article in The Hindustan Times: "Mridula Sarabhai's masculine attire and boyish haircut gave her a distinct charm. There is no doubt that Pandit Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah were attracted to her for reasons other than politics. There was a tenderness in the relationship between Pandit Nehru and Mridula; for example, a rose was sent to Mridula's house every morning from Pandit Nehru's residence, Teen Murti Bhavan."

In his 1978 memoir Reminiscences of the Nehru Age, M.O. Mathai also mentioned their relationship. He wrote that Mridula used to pursue Nehru, but Nehru later lost interest in her because, according to him, “she lacked feminine charm.” He also claimed that whenever Nehru went on tours, Mridula would call chief ministers to check on the security and food arrangements.

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Nehru also shared a very close relationship with Padmaja Naidu. She was the daughter of activist, poet, freedom fighter and India's first female governor, Sarojini Naidu. Padmaja Naidu served as the fourth Governor of West Bengal. She, too, was drawn to Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru’s personal secretary, M.O. Mathai wrote about the intimate relationship Padmaja and Nehru shared in his controversial book Reminiscences of the Nehru Age.

Mathai wrote that Padmaja frequently stayed at Nehru’s residence, first at Anand Bhawan in Allahabad and later at Teen Murti Bhavan in New Delhi. He wrote that she used to take care of domestic work in the house and, whenever she visited, insisted on being given a room adjacent to Nehru’s. Mathai also mentioned in the book that Padmaja was jealous of Edwina's relationship with Nehru and sometimes even refused to meet her.

They also allegedly exchanged several affectionate letters, and their closeness reportedly increased after the death of Nehru’s wife. According to Indira: A Biography by Pupul Jayakar, the author asked Pandit Nehru's sister, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, about their relationship. She reportedly revealed that Padmaja and Nehru had lived together for many years and that, had Indira Gandhi not intervened, they might have married each other.

Another alleged affair was with the Sanyasin (spiritual seeker) Shraddha Mata, which was mentioned in the same book by M.O. Mathai, Nehru's private secretary. In Reminiscences of the Nehru Age, Mathai described Shraddha Mata as a beautiful woman from Banaras who came to Delhi in 1948. She was a Sanskrit scholar and well-versed in Indian mythology and scriptures. One of Nehru's former employees, S.D. Upadhyaya, allegedly sent her letter to Nehru, following which he granted her an interview.

According to M.O. Mathai, Nehru's meetings with Shraddha Mata became increasingly frequent and mostly took place “after Nehru finished his work at night.” He further wrote that they exchanged letters and met at midnight, until one day she disappeared.

In the book, Mathai also mentioned that after her disappearance, a baby boy was delivered along with a bundle of letters that did not bear any name. He claimed that Nehru tore up the letters. In a 1979 interview with New Delhi magazine, journalist Khushwant Singh also acknowledged that the two were deeply influenced by each other but denied any physical relationship.

[OG/VP/VS]

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