| Rajeev Gandhi (1944 - 1991) |
Born in Bombay and educated at University of Cambridge and Imperial College, London. His grandfather was Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, and his mother was Indira Gandhi, also prime minister.
Rajiv Gandhi initially had no interest in politics and became a commercial airline pilot. When his younger brother Sanjay, heir apparent to the family political dynasty, died in a plane crash, Rajiv sought his seat in parliament and won by a landslide (1980).
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He soon became his mother's chief adviser and an important political force himself. His fight against corruption earned him the nickname "Mr. Clean." By 1984 he was the most powerful political figure in India after his mother.
When she was assassinated later that year, he was elected by party leaders to replace her as Prime Minister as Prime Minister of India. In the national elections he pledged to deal with population control, educational and social reforms, and ethnic problems, but by 1989 little headway had been made in solving these problems, and charges of corruption plagued his administration. He was accused of isolating himself from the people, and many questioned his credibility. He ran for re-election in 1989 and was defeated. Trying for a comeback in 1991, he was assassinated by a bomb at a campaign rally.
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| Category filed under: Political |
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