Today May 21,2019 is the death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi the Prime minister of India who dreamed of proud and inclusive India in the 21st century with growth and prosperity for all
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May21,1991 by a woman operative of the separatist Lankan Tamil outfit LTTE at a rally in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur
Rajiv Gandhi was the seventh Prime Minister of India, serving from 1984 to 1989
His death anniversary is also observed as Anti-terrorism day.
Born on August 20, 1944, Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was born in Bombay, then Mumbai, to Feroz Gandhi and Indira Gandhi.
Rajiv Gandhi and Mahatma Gandhi were not related by blood even though they shared their last name. On 20 August, 1944, Rajiv was born to Indira and Feroze Gandhi. Indira Nehru fell in love of Feroze, a family friend and decided to marry him. But the then PM and father of Indira, Jawaharlal Nehru did not approve of her choice since it would have been an inter-religion marriage. He feared that if Indira married Feroze, she would stand to lose the chance of becoming the heir of the Nehru clan. Mahatma Gandhi mediated and adopted Feroze and thus gave him his last name. His name was changed to Feroze Gandhi via an affidavit in England, by which his last name was passed on to his descendants
Interestingly, he was named after his Maternal Grandmother Kamala Nehru, wife of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Kamala refers to Goddess Lakshmi and Rajiv means Lotus.Rajiv Gandhi met Antonia Maino while she was a waitress during his college days in the UK. The two would later marry and she would become Sonia Gandhi.
Rajiv Gandhi remained apolitical till his brother Sanjay Gandhi’s death in 1980.
In 1981, Rajiv reluctantly entered the political fray after the sad demise of his brother Sanjay Gandhi in an air crash. He fought his first electoral battle for Lok Sabha from his brother’s seat in Amethi and defeated the strongman Sharad Yadav. It was believed that Indira was grooming Rajiv for the top post and to keep her legacy alive. Rajiv soon became the president of the youth wing of Congress
When Indira Gandhi was suddenly assassinated by her own bodyguards in 1984, Rajiv was, on the same day, thrust to the post of the Prime Minister, making him the nation’s youngest PM .At the age of 40, Rajiv Gandhi became the youngest prime minister of India. He was sworn-in on October 31, 1984, the same day his mother got assassinated by her own bodyguards
On 29 July 1987, Rajiv Gandhi and the Lankan president JR Jayawardene signed the historic Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord. On the very next day on 30 July 1987, while he was receiving the guard of honour, a Sinhalese naval cadet named Vijayamunige Rohana de Silva, tried attacking him with the butt of his rifle. In a quick reflex Rajiv saved himself from what could have been a fatal attack
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, in a public meeting while campaigning in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur for a Lok Sabha Congress candidate.
He was posthumously awarded India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna in 1991, by the Indian government.
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