Rajiv Gandhi entered politics only after the death of his brother, Sanjay Gandhi, in 1980. Rajiv Gandhi had not shown much interest in politics till then. He attended college at Cambridge, England; married an Italian, Sonia Gandhi; and worked as a pilot for the Indian Airlines.
Rajiv's mother, Indira Gandhi, was active in India's national politics as she had by then served as the Prime Minister of India. Rajiv Gandhi's brother was an aide to their mother in politics. So when Sanjay Gandhi died, it is said that Indira Gandhi convinced Rajiv Gandhi to enter politics. But Rajiv Gandhi was not new to politics as he was born into a family of politicians. His grandfather, Nehru, was the first Prime Minister of India. His mother, father and brother too were politically very active.
Rajiv Gandhi won his first parliamentary elections to the Lok Sabha in 1981. At that time, Indira Gandhi was re-elected as the Prime Minister and Rajiv Gandhi became her unofficial political advisor. But in 1984, Indira Gandhi's bodyguards assassinated her and Rajiv Gandhi took over as the head of the Congress party and was sworn in as the Prime Minister.
In elections in November 1989 Gandhi won his seat, but the Congress Party lost its majority and he resigned as prime minister. He and his party's implications in corruption scandals decreased their credibility as a strong party.
Rajiv Gandhi began to campaign again in 1991. It was while he was campaigning in Tamil Nadu in south India that a Tamil sucide bomber took his life.
Life Line
- 1944: born in Mumbai
- 1980: his brother Sanjay dies in a plane crash.
- 1981: His mother, Indira Gandhi convinces him to join politics.
- - he is elected into the parliament
- 1984: Her bodyguards assassinate Indira Gandhi
- - Rajiv Gandhi leads the congress party to a sweeping victory and succeeds his mother as Prime Minister.
- 1987: sends the Indian Peace Keeping Force to Sri Lanka mediate an end to Tamil-Sinhalese violence there.
- 1988: Allegations of corruption in the Bofors scam diminish his popularity.
- 1989: the congress party loses its parliamentary majority and Rajiv Gandhi resigns as Prime Minister
- 1991: while campaigning for the elections, he is assassinated by a Tamil militant suicide bomber in Tamil Nadu. They said it was their revenge for india's intervention in the civil war in Sri Lanka.
- 1998: 26 members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (a separatist guerilla group) are convicted of Rajiv Gandhi's murder and are sentenced to death
- 1999: Rajiv Gandhi is posthumously charged with participating in a kickback scheme in a Bofors arms deal.
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