Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday paid tribute to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his birth anniversary.
Taking to the social media platform X, PM Modi said, “On the occasion of his birth anniversary, paying homage to former Prime Minister of India, Shri Rajiv Gandhi.”
On the occasion of his birth anniversary, paying homage to former Prime Minister of India, Shri Rajiv Gandhi.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 20, 2026
Born on August 20, 1944, in Bombay, now Mumbai, Rajiv Gandhi became India’s youngest Prime Minister at the age of 41. His entry into national politics marked a generational shift in the country’s political landscape.
Rajiv Gandhi entered politics after the death of his younger brother, Sanjay Gandhi, in a plane crash in 1980. He contested the Amethi by-election and won by a large margin. His political career took a dramatic turn after the assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, on October 31, 1984.
Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister and Congress president soon afterwards. Under his leadership, the Congress secured 401 of 508 Lok Sabha seats in the election that followed, one of the party’s biggest electoral victories.
Before entering politics, Rajiv Gandhi had pursued interests in engineering, music, photography and amateur radio. He studied at the Doon School and later attended Trinity College, Cambridge, before studying mechanical engineering at Imperial College London.
Rajiv Gandhi pursued his passion for aviation and obtained a commercial pilot’s licence before joining Indian Airlines as a pilot. He married Sonia Maino in 1968 and had two children, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi. He became Leader of the Opposition after Congress lost the 1989 election and was assassinated in 1991 at Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.
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