Rajiv Gandhi was the 6th Prime Minister of India, serving from 1984 to 1989.
Background
Rajiv Gandhi was born in Bombay on 20 August 1944 to Indira and Feroze Gandhi.
Rajiv was born in 1944 in Mumbai, during a time when both his parents were in and out of British prisons. His grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru was India's prime minister from 1947 to 1964; his mother Indira Gandhi held the same post from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984. Rajiv was raised in his grandfather's home. In August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru became the prime minister of independent India, and the family settled in Allahabad, and then at Lucknow, where Feroze became the editor of the National Herald newspaper. The marriage was faltering and, in 1949, Indira and the two sons moved to Delhi to live with Jawaharlal, ostensibly so that Indira could assist her father in his duties, acting as official hostess, and helping run the huge residence. Meanwhile, Feroze continued alone in Lucknow. In 1952, Indira helped Feroze manage his campaign for elections to the first Parliament of India from Rae Bareli.
Education
Rajiv was educated at Welham Preparatory and Doon schools, both elite Indian institutions.
Following graduation from Doon School, Gandhi went to Britain where he attended the Imperial Scientific and Technical College in London and Cambridge University's Trinity College, studying mechanical engineering.
While at Cambridge Gandhi met an Italian student studying English, Sonia Manio.
Career
While his brother was alive, Rajiv largely stayed out of politics; but, after Sanjay, a vigorous political figure, died in an airplane crash on June 23, 1980, Indira Gandhi, then prime minister, drafted Rajiv into a political career.
Whereas Sanjay had been described as politically “ruthless” and “willful” (he was considered a prime mover during the state of emergency his mother decreed in India in 1975–77), Rajiv was regarded as a nonabrasive person who consulted other party members and refrained from hasty decisions. After his mother was killed on October 31, 1984, Rajiv was sworn in as prime minister that same day and was elected leader of the Congress (I) Party a few days later. He led the Congress (I) Party to a landslide victory in elections to the Lok Sabha in December 1984, and his administration took vigorous measures to reform the government bureaucracy and liberalize the country’s economy. Gandhi’s attempts to discourage separatist movements in Punjab state and the Kashmir region backfired, however, and after his government became embroiled in several financial scandals, his leadership became increasingly ineffectual. He resigned his post as prime minister in November 1989 after the Congress (I) Party was defeated in parliamentary elections, though he remained leader of the party.
In May 1991 Gandhi was campaigning in Tamil Nadu state for the next round of parliamentary elections when he and 16 others were killed by a bomb concealed in a basket of flowers carried by a woman associated with the Tamil Tigers. In 1998 an Indian court convicted 26 people in the conspiracy to assassinate Gandhi. The conspirators, who consisted of Tamil militants from Sri Lanka and their Indian allies, had sought revenge against Gandhi because the Indian troops he had sent to Sri Lanka in 1987 to help enforce a peace accord there had ended up fighting the Tamil separatist guerrillas. After Rajiv’s death, his widow, Sonia Gandhi, took over the leadership of the Congress Party (the “I” designation was formally dropped in 1996).
Achievements
Rajiv Gandhi became the youngest Indian Prime Minister at the age of 40.
In 1991 the Indian government posthumously awarded Gandhi the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award. At the India Leadership Conclave in 2009, the Revolutionary Leader of Modern India award was conferred posthumously on Gandhi.
Politics
Rajiv Gandhi called general elections for December 1984 and, on a wave of national sympathy, led the Congress Party to its greatest victory ever.
He signed an accord in 1985 with a moderate Sikh leader who was then assassinated by extremists, and Sikh radicalism did not cease during Rajiv Gandhi's term in office. Gandhi removed many restrictions on imports and encouraged foreign investment, helping to propel India to strong economic growth under the 1986-1990 plan.
Membership
In June 1981 he was elected in a by-election to the Lok Sabha (lower chamber of national parliament) and in the same month became a member of the national executive of the Indian Youth Congress (the youth wing of the Congress Party).
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
"Indian politics got the youngest ever Prime minister in Rajiv Gandhi. This phenomenon attracted attention the world over. . . his winsome smile, charm and decency were his valuable personal assets. . . A senior opposition member, while talking to me, conceded that . . . he could not conceal his feeling that Rajiv Gandhi would be invincible for the opposition. "
Satyendra Narayan Sinha
Interests
His other interests included music (both Indian and Western), photography, ham radios, and flying.
Connections
Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi were married in New Delhi in 1968 and lived with his mother, who by then was prime minister. He had two children, a son, Rahul, and a daughter, Priyanka.
