Rajiv Gandhi


Gandhi, Rajiv

(räj`ĭv gän`dē, räjēv`), 1944–91, prime minister of India (1984–89). Oldest son of Indira GandhiGandhi, Indira
, 1917–84, Indian political leader; daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru. She served as an aide to her father, who was prime minister (1947–64), and as minister of information in the government of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964–66).
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, he flew for Indian Airlines until his brother died in 1981 and he was drafted into politics by his mother. He was elected to parliament and when his mother, Indira GandhiGandhi, Indira
, 1917–84, Indian political leader; daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru. She served as an aide to her father, who was prime minister (1947–64), and as minister of information in the government of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964–66).
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, was assassinated in 1984 he succeeded her as prime minister, leading the Congress party (see Indian National CongressIndian National Congress,
Indian political party, founded in 1885. Its founding members proposed economic reforms and wanted a larger role in the making of British policy for India.
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) to a sweeping election victory. His government encouraged foreign investment, and industry boomed with the loosening of business controls. In 1987 he sent Indian peacekeeping forces to Sri LankaSri Lanka
[Sinhalese,=resplendent land], formerly Ceylon, ancient Taprobane, officially Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, island republic (2015 est. pop. 20,714,000), 25,332 sq mi (65,610 sq km), in the Indian Ocean, just SE of India.
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 in an unsuccessful attempt to mediate an end to Tamil-Sinhalese violence there. Allegations of corruption and arrogance diminished Gandhi's popularity, and in 1989 he resigned as prime minister when the Congress party lost its parliamentary majority. He was assassinated by Tamil separatists in 1991. In 1999, Gandhi was posthumously charged with participating in a kickback scheme in a 1989 arms deal, but the charges against him were quashed in 2004. He was married to Sonia GandhiGandhi, Sonia
, 1946–, Indian politician, b. Turin, Italy, as Sonia Maino. She met Rajiv Gandhi in 1965 when they were students in Cambridge, England. They were married in 1968 and settled in his family home in India.
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; Rahul GandhiGandhi, Rahul
, 1944–91, Indian political leader, B.A. Rollins College, 1994, M.Phil. Cambridge, 1995. Son of Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, he entered politics in 2004, winning election to the Indian parliament from the constituency his assassinated father had represented.
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 is their son.