Updated on 19 August 2023 IST: India is remembering the 6th Prime Minister of India, late Rajiv Gandhi on his 79th birth anniversary. Rajiv Gandhi is a well-known name in the politics of India and the World. Today the world is remembering him on his 79th birth anniversary. This day is also observed as Sadbhavana Diwas or Harmony Day.

Rajiv Gandhi Birth Anniversary Highlights

• August 20, 2023, marks the 79th birth anniversary of India’s Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
• Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944.
• Became the youngest Prime Minister of India.
• He served the nation from 1986 to 1989.
• His birthday is observed as ‘Sadbhavana Divas’ or Harmony Day with an aim to encourage love and peace amongst all communities.
• Rajiv Gandhi served as the 6th Prime Minister of India.
• By profession, Rajiv Gandhi was a pilot.
• On May 21, 1991, he was assassinated by a suicide bomber during an election rally in Tamil Nadu.
• In the same year, after his assassination, Rajiv Gandhi was awarded the country’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, by the Indian Government

Rajiv Gandhi Birth Anniversary: Biography of Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi Birth Anniversary: Rajiv Gandhi was born in India’s highest praised politically associated Gandhi family. Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944, in Bombay. His mother was Indira Gandhi and his father’s name was Feroze Gandhi. Rajiv Gandhi along with his brother Sanjay Gandhi did his initial schooling from Shiv Niketan School and thereafter in 1954, Rajiv Gandhi was admitted to Welham Boys’ School, Dehradun which is in Dehradun.

From 1962 to 1965 he studied engineering at Trinity College, Cambridge, but did not obtain a degree. In 1966, he began a course in mechanical engineering at Imperial College London but did not complete it.  Then he went to London for further studies. After returning to India, he joined Flying Club in Delhi where he took the training as a pilot, and in 1970, he had been employed as a pilot by Air India.

Rajiv Gandhi Birth Anniversary: Rajiv weds Sonia

Rajiv Gandhi met Edvige Antonia Albina Màino in Italy. After seeing her in a restaurant, he fell in love with her at first sight. From there, he wrote a letter to Mrs. Indira Gandhi ( one of the prominent political leaders of her time), his mother in which he expressed his love for Sonia.

After three years of courtship with Màino, on February 25, 1968, they got married and Edvige Antonia Albina Màino changed her name to Sonia Gandhi and accepted India as her home. The couple has two children, Rahul and Priyanka and both are very active in politics and are serving the country according to their abilities.

Rajiv and Sonia always wanted to stay away from politics

Neither Rajiv Gandhi wanted to be part of Politics nor Sonia Gandhi. Moreover, he promised Sonia that he would never become part of politics. However, there was something else written in fate and he had to break his promise.

Rajiv Gandhi Birth Anniversary: Political Career

• He took office after the assassination of his mother and the uncertain death of his brother.
• The younger brother of Rajiv Gandhi died in a plane crash on June 23, 1980. After this tragedy, Rajiv Gandhi was urged and forced to join Indian politics. To enter politics he contested election and won from his brother’s seat in Amethi.
• On February 16, 1981, he entered politics and served the nation. He became a member of the Parliament by taking oath on August 17, 1981, defeating Lok Dal candidate Sharad Yadav by 2,37,000 votes. Rajiv became the youngest Prime Minister of India at the age of 40.

Works done by Rajiv Gandhi as the Prime Minister of India

• In 1985, an anti-defection law was passed by Rajiv Gandhi emphasizing that an elected Member of Parliament cannot join the opposition party.
• In 1986, the National Policy on Education was started by Rajiv Gandhi in order to take the Education System to another level by bringing advancements in it.
• In 1986, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya was established. Under this system, the children residing in the countryside area would be receiving free education from 6th to 12th standard.
• MTNL services were also established by Rajiv Gandhi in 1986. This service was fruitful and connected India over a telephone network.

Rajiv Gandhi Birth Anniversary: Destiny played the Role

There were several works done by Rajiv Gandhi that worked like a wonder for the development of the country. Unfortunately, he could not continue his services in the same way.

Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi

On 21st May 1991 he attended his last public meeting. It was at Sriperumbudur village which was approximately 40 km from Madras. While campaigning for the candidate from the same village, when he was in the public, he was assassinated. He was assassinated during an election rally in Tamil Nadu by a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide bomber in 1991.

■ Also Read: Death Anniversary of Guru Rabindranath Tagore

The blast was so severe that it became the cause of death for 25 and more present in the gathering. Since the lady was wearing a belt of explosives with 700g RDX which she had tucked under her dress and detonated when she bent down to touch the feet of Rajiv Gandhi. His assassination was a great shock for the Congress Party and the entire world.

Why Rajiv Gandhi was killed?

The Supreme Court judgment, by Justice K. T. Thomas, confirmed that Gandhi was killed because of personal animosity by the LTTE chief Prabhakaran arising from his sending the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka and the alleged IPKF atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamils.

The dynasty of Gandhi family

The Nehru–Gandhi Family is an Indian political family that has occupied a prominent place in the politics of India. Three members of the family: Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi, have served as the Prime Minister of India.

Tribute by the Political Leaders

Several political leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (his daughter), the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (his son), Prime Minister Narender Modi, Robert Vadra, and Manmohan Singh tweeted and paid tribute on 79th birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.

PM tweeted and paid tribute saying that the efforts of Rajiv Gandhi cannot be forgotten.

Rahul Gandhi tweeted that Rajiv Gandhi was a kind, gentle and affectionate man whose untimely demise left a deep void in his life. He remembered the days he had spent with his father when he was alive. “We miss him today and every day,” the tweet read.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Delhi’s Veer Bhumi Rajiv Gandhi Memorial and paid tributes to his father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 79th birth anniversary on Thursday.

Priyanka Gandhi ( daughter of Rajiv Gandhi) who was 19 at the time when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated posted the last photo with his father on his birthday.

Serve the Purpose of Human Life

Use this human life to search, identify, and know Supreme God. Human birth is very rare. After birth and death in 8.4 million species, one gets the opportunity of human birth.

Unfortunately, Human life is meaningless without the devotion of the Supreme God. Every person should listen to the discourses of Tatvadarshi Saint because through discourse we get the knowledge that this human birth has been given to us for the devotion of complete God. Once a human birth is over, even after death, we will have to suffer a lot. Sonia Ji, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi are humbly requested to read the Sacred book Gyan Ganga.