NEW DELHI: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and MP Rahul Gandhi paid homage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 33rd death anniversary at Veer Bhumi. Along with them, senior Congress leaders P. Chidambaram and Sachin Pilot also paid their tributes to Gandhi at Veer Bhumi.
पापा,
आपके सपने, मेरे सपने,
आपकी आकांक्षाएं, मेरी ज़िम्मेदारियां।आपकी यादें, आज और हमेशा, दिल में सदा। pic.twitter.com/lT8M7sk7dS
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 21, 2024
Rahul Gandhi, son of Rajiv Gandhi, posted on X, “Papa, aapke sapne, mere sapne, aapki aakaankshaen, meri zimmedaariyaan. aapki yaaden, aaj aur hamesha, dil mein sada.” Translated, this reads: “Papa, Your dreams, my dreams. Your aspirations, my responsibilities. Your memories, today and always, always in my heart.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Rajiv Gandhi via a post on X (formerly Twitter). The post reads, “On his death anniversary, my tributes to our former PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji.”
On his death anniversary, my tributes to our former PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 21, 2024
Rajiv Gandhi served as the 6th Prime Minister of India from 1984 to 1989, succeeding his mother, Indira Gandhi, after her assassination. He became the youngest Indian Prime Minister at 40. Gandhi’s tenure saw significant reforms and a landslide victory for the Congress party.
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Despite initial popularity, challenges arose from separatist movements and financial scandals, leading to his resignation in 1989. Gandhi was assassinated by a female suicide bomber, a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), on May 21, 1991, in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. Later, the government of V.P. Singh announced that May 21 would be observed as Anti-Terrorism Day.
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Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency. For the ongoing general election of 2024, the Congress has fielded Kishori Lal Sharma against Smriti Irani of the BJP. Rajiv Gandhi lost Amethi to Smriti Irani by a margin of almost fifty-five thousand votes in the last general election of 2019. Amethi voted for its representatives on 20th May.