Rajiv Gandhi death anniversary: PM Modi pays tributes

A recipient of Bharat Ratna, Rajiv Gandhi served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tributes to former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi on his 32nd death anniversary.

In a tweet, Modi, who is on a visit to Japan to attend the G7 Summit said, “I pay tributes to former PM Rajiv Gandhi Ji on his death anniversary.”

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Earlier in the day, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra paid floral tributes to the former Prime Minister at the Veer Bhoomi here.

Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944, and he represented Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi parliamentary constituency four times.

A recipient of Bharat Ratna, Rajiv Gandhi served as the sixth prime minister of India
from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the assassination of his mother, then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide bomber during an election rally in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991. He was cremated at Veer Bhumi, located on the banks of the river Yamuna.

His death anniversary is observed as the National Anti-Terrorism Day.

He was the youngest prime minister of India who came into power at 40.