Rajiv Gandhi, an orator, an administrator and a people’s man, everyone is enamoured by his life. While some see him as a role model in Indian politics, there are others who are smitten by the romantic side of him revolving around Sonia. So, here are some interesting and lesser known facts about the charismatic leader and his life:
1. He was only three years old when India became independent and his grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of independent India. Do you know that Rajiv Gandhi’s name was kept as Rajiv because the name of Jawaharlal Nehru’s wife was Kamala which means goddess Lakshmi and ‘Rajiv’ word means Kamal or Lotus flower which is used to worship the goddess, Lakshmi? Rajiv Gandhi spent his childhood days with his grandfather at Murthy House, where Indira Gandhi served her father unofficially as a personal assistant.
2. Rajiv Gandhi went to Welham Boys’ School in Dehradun for some time but soon he was sent to the elite Doon School located in the foothills of Himalayas. Later, his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi was also sent to this school where the two stayed together. After leaving school, Rajiv went to Trinity College, Cambridge but soon he shifted to Imperial College in London. He studied mechanical engineering from there but could not be able to complete his course due to some reason.
3. The seventh Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was a pilot by profession and worked for the domestic national carrier Indian Airlines beginning in 1968. Gandhi acquired a commercial pilot’s license from Delhi Flying Club after completing college from the United Kingdom.
4. Rajiv Gandhi was assigned the post of the Prime Minister the day when Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards, making him the nation’s youngest PM.
5. In 1966, Rajiv Gandhi came to India and till then his mother Indira Gandhi had become the Prime Minister of India. Rajiv Gandhi was very interested in music. He liked Western and Hindustani classical and modern music. He also had a passion for listening to the radio and doing photography.
6. Rajiv Gandhi’s met Edvige Antonio Albina Maino in London. In 1968, he married Edvige Antonio Albina Maino in New Delhi and renamed her Sonia Gandhi. They have two children, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi.
7. Why Rajiv Gandhi came into politics? We all know that Rajiv Gandhi was not interested in politics, but when his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi died in a plane crash on 23 June 1980, he had joined politics and contested election from his brother’s seat Amethi. In 1981, Rajiv Gandhi was made the president of the Indian Youth Congress.
8. Just 4 earlier to losing his life to a suicide attack, Rajiv Gandhi was fatally attacked in Sri Lanka by one of the guards of honour- Vijayamunige Rohana de Silva. Though Rajiv escaped, Silva was arrested by the CID.
9. Rajiv Gandhi contributed greatly to the development of the country. He announced a National Policy on Education in 1986 to modernise and expand higher education programs across India. He founded a central government based institution namely Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya System in 1986 for the upliftment of the rural section of the society providing them free residential education from 6th to 12 class.
10. Rajiv Gandhi sent Indian Peace Keeping Force to Sri Lanka to help them fight the Tamil insurgents to antagonise LTTE. The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed by Rajiv Gandhi and the Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene, in Colombo on 29 July 1987. Prior to sending the peace army, LTTE chief V Prabhakaran came to meet Rajiv Gandhi in Delhi. Rajiv Gandhi was strict with him. Since then he had been waiting for an opportunity.
Rajiv Gandhi was simple and influential personality. He always discuss with his party before taking any important decision. He led the country towards modernism, established schools, encouraged youth etc. He wanted to maintain unity in the country and the main objective of him was the construction of a twenty-first century India,RIP to a great leader.