AMN / WEB DESK
Tributes pouring in from different quarters for former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 77th birth anniversary today. Several Congress leaders, including his son Rahul Gandhi, visited his memorial in Delhi.
Vice president M Venakaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among those who paid their tributes. “My tributes to former Prime Minister, Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji on his birth anniversary today. His valuable contributions to the IT, telecom and education sector will always be remembered,” Naidu tweeted. “Tributes to our former PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji on his birth anniversary,” PM Modi tweeted.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also wrote a message on Twitter in memory of the late leader.
Rahul Gandhi, visited Veer Bhumi in Delhi to pay his respect. Rahul Gandhi also remembered his father in a message posted on Facebook. “A secular India alone is an India that can survive. Remembering Shri Rajiv Gandhi ji on his birth anniversary,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
Born in 1944, Rajiv Gandhi became the youngest prime minister of India in 1984 after he assumed office following the death of his mother Indira Gandhi. He served as the prime minister of India till December 2, 1989. The Congress celebrates Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary as Sadbhavna Divas.
In 1968, Rajiv Gandhi married Sonia Gandhi who is the current president of the Congress party. Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi are the couple’s children.
A Bharat Ratna recipient, Rajiv Gandhi was the sixth prime minister of the country. During his tenure as the prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi symbolised a change in the arena of politics, economy, and morality in public life, through consent and conciliation, participation, and persuasion.
Rajiv Gandhi, who was a trained pilot and worked for state-owned Indian Airlines for some time, also worked hard to put an end to agitations and violations in Punjab, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Kashmir to restore peace and democracy.
A suicide bomber of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) killed him during an election rally in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu in 1991.