Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was remembered on his 25th death anniversary on Saturday, with several leaders paying homage at his memorial in New Delhi.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, the late leader's wife and Congress President Sonia Gandhi accompanied by son and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, daughter Priyanka Gandhi and son-in-law Robert Vadra paid tributes to the late leader at his memorial, Veer Bhumi.
Senior party leaders including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel, Sushil Kumar Shinde, PC Chacko, Sheila Dikshit and DPCC President Ajay Maken, among others, also paid tributes to the former PM.
Rajiv Gandhi, who was the sixth Prime Minister of India, was assassinated on May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu during a poll campaign.
About Rajiv Gandhi (Aug 20,1944 - May 21,1991)
On 20 August, 1944, Rajiv was born to Indira and Feroze Gandhi.
He was christened as ‘Rajiv’ after his maternal grandmother Kamala Nehru’s name. Since 'Kamala' refers to goddess Lakshmi and 'Rajiv to lotus, his name is in reference to the flower that is used to worship the goddess.
Rajiv Gandhi along with his younger sibling Sanjay Gandhi went to Doon School, Dehradun. He continued his higher education first at Imperial College, London and later at the University of Cambridge in 1965. In the year 1966, he returned from London, when his mother became the Prime Minister
Family always came first for Rajiv Gandhi. In the year 1968, he married Sonia Maino. While he was at Cambridge in London, Rajiv first saw Sonia at a Greek restaurant and instantly fell in love with her.
After returning to India, he became a member of the Flying Club, where Rajiv took pilot’s training. Eventually he joined Air India in 1970. Rajiv was not interested in joining politics, unlike his mother and brother. He was quite content with Rs 5,000 a month salary as an airline pilot, making a career out of his hobby. He was also greatly enamoured by computers and was a music buff
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.
The 1982, the Asian Games were a huge organisational success and it stamped Rajiv Gandhi’s stupendous managerial skills. Rajiv, who was an MP then, was made the member of the Organising Committee. He, along with the then sports minister Buta Singh, pulled off a brilliant show, making the Games a memorable event.
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.
As the Lok Sabha had already completed its tenure of five years, Rajiv Gandhi, after assuming office, asked the then President Zail Singh for dissolution of the Parliament and hold fresh polls. Rajiv was also nominated as the president of the Indian National Congress. The Grand Old party, later, scripted history in the General Elections by winning a record 411 seats out of the 542 seats. This gave Rajiv absolute control over the government. His youthful and clean image hugely benefited the Congress party
Four years before losing his life to a brutal assassination, Rajiv had a major scare when he was in Sri Lanka. 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.
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