5 Lesser Known Facts About Rajiv Gandhi On His 29th Death Anniversary

“Better a brain drain than a brain in the drain” – Rajiv Gandhi

The country today remembers the last Prime Minister from Gandhi-Nehruvian family, Rajiv Ratna Gandhi, on his 29th death anniversary. He was assassinated in a suicide bombing on May 21, 1991, in Chennai by a member of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant organisation from Sri Lanka. 

On this day, while we mourn the death of one of the most-acclaimed politicians of post-Independent India, here are some lesser-known facts about him.

1. Rajiv Gandhi became the youngest Prime Minister of India at the age of 40 in the year 1984. 

2. A reluctant novice in politics, Rajiv Gandhi was never set out to become a politician. But only after the death of his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi in a plane crash (1980) did he enter politics and contested from the former’s seat in Amethi.

3. Before his political endeavour, Rajiv Gandhi was a pilot with the Indian Airlines. Flying was his passion and also his desired career until he was compelled by responsibilities to join politics.

4. Rajiv Gandhi also had a passion for photography. His wife Sonia Gandhi, after his death, came out with a book ‘Rajiv’s World: Photographs by Rajiv Gandhi,’ in 1995, which was a collection of photographs clicked by him, of all his interests and especially – family. 

5. Rajiv Gandhi was conferred the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1991 posthumously.