Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in a suicide bombing on this day, May 21, 1991. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi paid tributes to late Rajiv Gandhi on his 28th death anniversary at his memorial, Veer Bhumi, in Delhi today.
Paying his tributes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted, "Tributes to former PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi on his death anniversary."
As the world remembers the late leader on his 28th death anniversary, we take a look at a few lesser-known facts about the former prime minister of India.
Born on August 20, 1944, Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was born in Bombay, then Mumbai, to Feroz Gandhi and Indira Gandhi.
He was the seventh Prime Minister of India, serving from 1984 to 1989.
Interestingly, he was named after his Maternal Grandmother Kamala Nehru, wife of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Kamala refers to Goddess Lakshmi and Rajiv means Lotus.
Rajiv Gandhi met Antonia Maino while she was a waitress during his college days in the UK. The two would later marry and she would become Sonia Gandhi.
Rajiv Gandhi remained apolitical till his brother Sanjay Gandhi’s death in 1980.
At the age of 40, Rajiv Gandhi became the youngest prime minister of India. He was sworn-in on October 31, 1984, the same day his mother got assassinated by her own bodyguards.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, in a public meeting while campaigning in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur for a Lok Sabha Congress candidate.
He was posthumously awarded India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna in 1991, by the Indian government.
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