Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister by the then President Zail Singh, eight hours after Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984. He was the youngest Prime Minister of India -- 40-years old when he took the oath. Photo: The Hindu Archives
As part of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord, a peacekeeping force was sent to Sri Lanka by Rajiv Gandhi to end the Sri Lankan Civil War. The government received flak for taking a stand on the ethnic Tamils crisis. Photo shows the then Sri Lankan President, J. R. Jayewardene, in New Delhi with Rajiv Gandhi on June 02, 1985. Photo: The Hindu Archives
In the 1989 elections, the Congress lost power to the Janata Dal, headed by V.P. Singh. Later Chadra Sekhar became Prime Minister but his government fell and elections were called in 1991. The photo shows Rajiv Gandhi at Madras Airport, setting out for Sriperumbudur to campaign for Maragatham Chandrashekar, the Congress candidate. Photo: The Hindu Archives
Rajiv Gandhi minutes before his assassination at Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991. Dhanu, the LTTE suicide bomber, is seen at the extreme left, waiting to approach him. Photo: The Hindu Archives.
The picture shows a scene minutes before the then Prime Minister's death at the election campaign rally. The woman waiting with the garland is Dhanu, the suicide bomber. Flanking her are Latha Kannan and her daughter Kokila. The man in the photograph is Sivarajan, "the journalist". As soon as Rajiv Gandhi arrived, admirers draped a shawl around his shoulders. To his left was Maragatham Chandrasekhar, the candidate for the Sriperumbudur Lok Sabha seat. Photo: The Hindu Archives
Congressmen and security men carrying the body of Rajiv Gandhi from Teen Murti house on May 22, 1991. Also seen are Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
The Rajiv Gandhi Ninaivakam in Sriperumbudur
Congress president Sonia Gandhi along with Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Robert Vadra paying tributes on the 25th death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi. Photo: R.V.Moorthy
