1.1 Rajiv was born on 20th August l944 and was brought up in the Nehru Gandhi family of freedom fighters, great leaders and statesmen. Smt. Indira Gandhi, the daughter of the first Indian Prime Minister Pt Jawaharlal Nehru was married to Shri Feroze Gandhi. Two years after the birth of Shri Rajiv Gandhi, his father Shri Feroze Gandhi and mother Smt. Indira Gandhi had shifted to Lucknow from Allahabad. Shri Feroze Gandhi assumed charge as Managing Director of the National Herald. Smt Indira Gandhi shifted to Delhi in 1950 when Rajiv was only six years old. Shri Feroze Gandhi however remained at Lucknow to 1ook after the National Herald. Rajiv was then enro11ed in Welhams School in Dehra Dun. Thereafter, in 1955, he joined the prestigious Doon Schoo1. When Rajiv was only 16 years old, his father passed away.

Later, in 1962, Rajiv left for Cambridge and joined the Trinity College. Thereafter,- he

studied at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London at Cambridge, Here he met Sonia Maino of Italy and a nuptial knot was tied between the two in 1978.¶

From the childhood Rajiv Gandhi had immense interest?: in technology and he had a passion for machines and had developed keen interest in aviation. He used to learn flying during his holidays in England and in India When he returned from England, he joined the Indian Airlines training course at Hyderabad in December, 1967. Rajiv joined the Indian Airlines officially as an apprentice on 5th May, 1968 and captained RS-748 type aircrafts. Final1y, he obtained the Boeing Commander’s Licence in 1980. He 1oved flying and was leading a happy family life as a professiona1 commercial pilot.

Rajiv’s brother, Sanjay, younger by two years, was already thick in politics and was a great help to Smt. Indira Gandhi who was then the Prime Minister of India. The family received a big jolt and shock on account of sudden death of Shri Sanjay Gandhi in June 1980 in an air crash near Safdarjang Airport, Delhi. Rajiv Gandhi had no interest in politics. He had distanced himself from politics but the sudden and untimely death of Shri Sanjay Gandhi pulled him into politics much against his wishes. There was

considerable pressure exerted on him to join active politics. Shri Rajiv Gandhi himself said how circumstances forced him to join politics:

".... I had no love for politics. I treasured the privacy of my happy family life. My mother respected both these sentiments. Then my brother Sanjay was killed in the prime of his life. It broke a mother’s heart . It did break a Prime Minister's will. Without even a day's break of grief, she carried on her task single-minded in fulfilling her pledge to her people.

There is a loneliness that only a bereaved mother can know. She called to me in her loneliness. I went to her side. At her instance I left my love for flying and joined her as a political aide. From her I learnt my first political lessons. It was she who urged me to respond to the insistent demand from the constituency and the party to take my brother's place as Member of Parliament for Amethi. With her blessings, I was made General Secretary of my party asking me to accept the challenge of stepping into her shoes.

In accepting the challenge, I fulfilled a national duty and a filial duty,: the duty of a son to a mother."

Thus, it would appear that pressure and the circumstances made him enter politics and once he plunged into politics, he made a mark himself. The Lok Sabha election was contested by him from Amethi constituency in June, 1981 and he won by a thumping majority. He was sworn in as Member of Lok Sabha on 17^th August 1981. He made his maiden speech on 11th March 1982 and was appointed General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee on 3rd February 1983. Four States were put under his charge i.e. Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland. He was also given the charge of managing the affairs of the Congress Sewa Dal and the Youth Congress . He played a pivotal role in starting the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi.

Smt Indira Gandhi fell by the bullets of her own security guard when she was on her way to give an interview in the morning of 31st October, l984. The brutal assassination of Smt Indira Gandhi sent shock waves all over the country. On that fateful day and time, Rajiv was far away from her. He was in the interior of West Bengal addressing political meetings. Tragedy overtook him. When he was extremely grieved and undergoing trauma, he dashed to Delhi and the nation’s responsibility fell on his shoulders as he was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India the same evening.

1.6 Soon after becoming the Prime Minister, elections for the Lok Sabha were announced to be held in December 1984. He got a landslide victory for the Congress Party winning 401 seats out of 508 seats contested by it. In his capacity as the Prime Minister he signed Punjab, Assam and Mizo accords and for the settlement of the Tamil ethnic crisis, Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was signed by him in July 1987. During his tenure as Prime Minister, several reforms were brought about in administration, economy and technology. He also brought about judicial and electoral reforms by amendment of the Constitution. The Panchayati Raj was introduced and the voting age was also reduced from 21 to 18 years. Even in the field of education a new education policy was framed and the Indira Gandhi National Open University was established. His achievement in the international field was significant. He was a firm believer of total disarmament and presented an Action Plan before the Special Session on Disarmament at the United Nations General Assembly in l988. He wanted to promote good neighbourly relations and an emergency help was sent to the Maldives government in 1988. He also directed his efforts to promote a sustained and continued cooperation among the Members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Countries.