Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former president Pranab Mukherjee, former vice-president Hamid Ansari on Tuesday paid tributes to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on 75th birth anniversary.
Congress leaders– former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, party president Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul, daughter Priyanka and other leaders, also remembered Rajiv on the occasion.
While Modi took to Twitter to pay tributes, Dr Mukherjee, Dr Ansari, Dr Singh, Gandhi, Rahul and daughter Priyanka and others assembled at Veerbhumi– memorial of Rajiv Gandhi–to pay homage.
“Tributes to our former PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi on his birth anniversary,” Modi in a tweet said. Gandhi, wife of Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi, paid floral tributes along with her children and son-in-law Robert Vadra.
“Today we celebrate the 75th birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi ji, a patriot & a visionary, whose far sighted policies helped build India,” Gandhi said in a tweet.
‘To me, he was a loving father who taught me never to hate, to forgive & to love all beings,’ he added. Congress, in a Twitter missive, said India’s strength lies in ‘its unity and diversity’.
‘As we remember Shri Rajiv Gandhi on his 75th birth anniversary, we must also remember that his words are now more relevant than ever. We must never allow communal madness to break the bond of unity among us all,’ the party tweeted on Sadbhavana Diwas.
Rajiv Gandhi, born on 20 August 1944, was the sixth and youngest prime minister of India. Rajiv, at age of 40, took the office of prime minister in 1984 after her mother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her bodyguards. On May 21, 1991, Rajiv was assassinated in Tamil Nadu by a suicide bomber of LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam).
(UNI)
