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The youngest Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944 in the world-renowned family of Nehru-Gandhi. Rajiv was the eldest son of Indira and Feroze Gandhi. Rajiv was sent to Cambridge University in England to complete his higher studies. Here, he came in contact with an Italian girl named Sonia. Their three years’ courtship resulted in marriage in 1968.
Rajiv Gandhi worked as a professional pilot for Indian Airlines before coming into politics. He was married to Edvige Antonia Albina Maino (Sonia Gandhi)) , an Italian national he met while in college. He remained aloof from politics despite his mother being the Indian Prime Minister, and it was only following the death of his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi in 1980 that Rajiv was convinced to enter politics. Upon the assassination of his mother in 1984 due to her involvement in Operation Blue Star, Congress party leaders convinced him to become the new Prime Minister. Rajiv Gandhi led the Congress to a major election victory in 1984 soon after, amassing the largest majority in Parliament. He had the public image of being young, modern and Mr. Clean – an honest leader free of machine politics and corruption. He began dismantling the License Raj – government quotas, tariffs and permit regulations on economic activity – modernized the telecommunications industry, the education system, expanded science and technology initiatives and improved relations with the United States. He also was responsible for sending Indian troops for peace efforts in Sri Lanka, which soon ended in open conflict with the LTTE, which Rajiv refused to pullout and was withdrawn by V.P.Singh . The Bofors scandal broke his honest, corruption-free image and resulted in a major defeat for his party in the 1989 elections. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1991.
1980 proved to be a turning point in his life. That year, his mother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi brought him into Indian politics. He stood successfully for elections in 1981 and became a political advisor to his mother. After her assassination in 1984, Rajiv succeeded her as the head of the Congress Party, and was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India.
After becoming India’s Prime Minister, he sought to increase Indian investment in modern technology and also wanted to provide opportunity to the poor and talented students, residing in the remotest parts of India. For this, he proposed the establishment of Navodaya Vidyalaya. He was assassinated on May 21,1991 in South India.
Rajiv Gandhi’s last public meeting was at Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991, in a city close to Chennai, where he was assassinated while campaigning for the Sriperumbudur Lok Sabha Congress candidate Mrs Maragatham Chandrasekhar in Tamil Nadu. The assassination was carried out by the LTTE suicide bomber Thenmuli Rajaratnam also known as Dhanu.
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