Rajiv Gandhi was the seventh Prime Minister of India and served the nation from 1984 to 1989. Every year on August 20, his birth anniversary is celebrated in the form of Sadbhavana Diwas. Today is the 79th anniversary of the birth of Rajiv Gandhi. Modi Prime Minister Rahul Gandhi paid tribute to him, among others.
After the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi became the youngest Prime Minister of India at the age of 40. In 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated while campaigning for the elections. After his death, Rajiv Gandhi received the Bharat Ratna Award from the Government of India. Today is the 29th anniversary of the death of Rajiv Gandhi.
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Rajiv Gandhi: birth, family and education
Rajiv Gandhi was born as Rajiv Ratna Gandhi on August 20, 1944 in Bombay (now Mumbai), the son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi. In 1951, Rajiv Gandhi and his brother Sanjay Gandhi were admitted to Shiv Niketan School. In 1954, Rajiv Gandhi was admitted to Welham Boys’ School, Dehradun and Doon School, Dehradun. In 1961 Rajiv Gandhi went to London to study A-Levels.
In 1962, Rajiv Gandhi was admitted to Trinity College London to study engineering, but did not earn the degree. In 1966, Rajiv Gandhi was admitted to Imperial College London, but did not complete the mechanical engineering course.
In 1966, Rajiv Gandhi returned to India, the same year that Indira Gandhi became India’s first female Prime Minister. He joined the Delhi Flying Club and trained as a pilot. In 1970, Rajiv Gandhi worked as a pilot for Air India.
Rajiv Gandhi: personal life
In 1968, Rajiv Gandhi married Edvige Antonia Albina Maino. Antonia Maino changed her name to Sonia Gandhi and chose India as her home. In 1970, the couple gave birth to a son and named him Rahul Gandhi. In 1972, the couple gave birth to a daughter, Priyanka Gandhi.
Rajiv Gandhi: political career
After the death of his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi on June 23, 1980, in a plane crash, Rajiv Gandhi returned to Delhi from London and cremated his brother’s body. After Sanjay’s death, 70 members of the Congress Party went to Indira Gandhi, signed a proposal and urged Rajiv Gandhi to join Indian politics. Indira Gandhi told them that the decision rested with Rajiv Gandhi. When Rajiv Gandhi was asked about the same, she replied that if he helps his mother, he will join politics. On February 16, 1981, Rajiv Gandhi entered politics, addressing a rally in Delhi. At the time, Rajiv was still serving at Air India.
On 4 May 1981, at a meeting of the All India Congress Committee, Vasantdada Patil proposed Rajiv as a candidate for the Amethi constituency. All the members of the meeting accepted the proposal and a week later his candidacy was officially announced by the Congress Party. After the announcement, Rajiv Gandhi paid for the party membership and flew to Sultanpur to present the nomination for him. Rajiv Gandhi defeated Lok Dal candidate Sharad Yadav by 2,37,000 votes and was sworn in on 17 August 1981 as a Member of Parliament.
Rajiv Gandhi on his first political tour went to England and attended the wedding ceremony of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. In December 1981, Rajiv Gandhi took over as director of the Indian Youth Congress. He became a member of the organizing committee for the 1982 Asian Games along with 32 other members.
On October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. Nineteen days after her assassination, Rajiv Gandhi declared at a rally: “There were some riots in the country after Indiraji’s assassination. We know that people were very angry and for a few days India seemed to have been shaken. But when a mighty tree falls, it’s natural for the ground around it to shake a little.’
Rajiv Gandhi: Prime Minister of India
After the assassination of his mother Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi was pressured by Sardar Buta Singh and President Zail Singh to succeed Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister of India.
After taking office, Rajiv Gandhi called on President Zail Singh to hold new elections while the Lok Sabha completed its five-year term. Rajiv Gandhi officially became Chairman of the Congress Party and won the largest majority in the history of the Indian Parliament. On December 31, 1984, at the age of 40, Rajiv Gandhi became the youngest Prime Minister of India.
After becoming India’s sixth Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi appointed his 14-member cabinet. He fired Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Railway Minister ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury because neither of them lived up to his expectations. Rajiv Gandhi appointed Mohsina Kidwai as Minister of Railways. Mohsina was the only female figure in Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet. PV Narasimha Rao was appointed Defense Minister and VP Singh was appointed Finance Minister, but in 1987 he was appointed Defense Minister.
In 1985, Rajiv Gandhi, as Prime Minister, passed the Anti-Defection Act. The law states that an elected member of Parliament or the legislative assembly may not join the opposition party until the next election.
In 1985, India’s highest court ruled in favor of divorced Muslim Shah Bano, ordering her ex-husband to give her alimony. Indian Muslims widely criticized this Supreme Court ruling. In 1986, Parliament passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights in Divorce) Act. The law overturned the Supreme Court ruling in the Shah Bano case. The law stated that alimony to divorced women could only be awarded during the Iddah period or up to 90 days after the divorce, according to Islamic law.
In the 1984 general election, Rajiv Gandhi did not mention any economic reforms in his election manifesto, but after taking office he gave subsidies to corporations to increase India’s economic growth. In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi announced a National Education Policy to modernize and expand educational programs in India. In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi established Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, a system that provided free residential education from grades 6 to 12 in rural India. In 1986, MTNL was established, connecting India through a telephone network with the help of PCO.
In 1986, Seychelles President Albert René asked Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to send the Indian Navy to Seychelles to oppose an attempted coup against René, to which Rajiv Gandhi agreed. This mission is known as ‘Operation Flowers are Blooming’ and the coup was averted after the intervention of the Indian Navy.
In 1987, India reoccupied Pakistan’s Quaid Post on the disputed land of Siachen and the operation is known as ‘Operation Rajiv’. In 1988, Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom asked Gandhi for help, which he later agreed to and sent 1,500 Indian soldiers to suppress the coup. This is known as the “1988 Maldives coup”.
In July 1987, Rajiv Gandhi signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement which provided for the devolution of power to Tamil-majority areas, dissolved the LTTE, and Tamil became the official language of Sri Lanka.
On July 30, 1987, Rajiv Gandhi was beaten by honor guard Vijitha Rohana and Rajiv’s quick reflexes saved him from head injuries. The guard intended to kill Gandhi because of the damage he caused to Sri Lanka.
Rajiv Gandhi released the defendant in the 1894 Operation Blue Star, lifted the ban on the All India Federation of Sikh Students, and launched an inquiry into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. In January 1985, despite opposition from Akali Dal, Rajiv Gandhi signed the Rajiv-Longowal Agreement with Akali Dal leader HS Longowal.
In May 1988, Rajiv Gandhi launched “Operation Black Thunder” with the help of the National Security Guard and the Special Action Group to clear the Golden Temple of Amritsar of weapons and armed men. After 10 days, the operation was successful and brought peace to the Punjab state.
Rajiv Gandhi: assassination
On May 21, 1991, Rajiv Gandhi attended his last public in the village of Sriperumbudur, where he was assassinated. Rajiv was campaigning for the Sriperumbudur Lok Sabha Congress candidate at the time. At around 10:00 p.m., a woman greeted Rajiv Gandhi, leaned down to touch his feet, and detonated a belt loaded with 700g of RDX explosives hidden under her dress. The blast killed another 25 people along with Gandhi. He was assassinated at the age of 76.
The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was captured by a local cameraman, Haribabu, who was killed in the blast but his camera was intact. Rajiv Gandhi’s mutilated body was airlifted and sent to AIIMS, Delhi for autopsy, reconstruction and embalming.
A state funeral for Rajiv Gandhi was held on 24 May 1991 and was broadcast live. The funeral ceremony was attended by dignitaries from more than 60 countries. Rajiv Gandhi was cremated at Veer Bhumi, near the shrines of his grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, his mother Indira Gandhi and his brother Sanjay Gandhi.
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Source: ptivs2.edu.vn