[Watch] Papa, You Are My Inspiration: Rahul Gandhi On Rajiv Gandhi’s 80th Birth Anniv

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he would fulfil his father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s dreams for India on the latter’s 80th birth anniversary.

“A compassionate personality, an epitome of camaraderie and goodwill… Papa, your teachings are my inspiration, and your dreams for India are my own – I will fulfil them, taking your memories with me,” the Congress leader wrote on X in Hindi.

Rahul Gandhi and several other Congress leaders visited Veer Bhumi and paid floral tribute to the former Prime Minister.

PM Modi pays tribute

Taking to the social media, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Rajiv Gandhi. “Tributes to our former Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji on his birth anniversary,” he wrote on X.

Remembering Rajiv Gandhi’s contributions

March 1985 Budget: He played a key role and heralded a new approach to the economic policy.

1991 Congress manifesto: He had spent long hours a few weeks before his tragic assassination in preparing the 1991 Lok Sabha election manifesto, which later provided the foundations for the Rao-Manmohan Singh reforms of June-July 1991.

Peace accords: One of his major contributions are the peace accords in troubled regions of the country like Assam, Punjab, Mizoram, and Tripura.

Science and Technology: Impactful technology missions in drinking water supply, immunization, literacy, oilseeds production and telecom and dairy development were carried out during his tenire.

1985: 165,000 villages were identified as not having easy access to any potable water source. By 1989, 162,000 of these villages had been provided with at least one safe source of drinking water. Facilities to manufacture the oral polio vaccine were set up.

Software export: During his tenure, the first direct steps to make India a software export powerhouse were taken. Institutions like C-DAC were established in the late 1980s.

Banking sector: Financial institutions like the National Housing Bank and the Small Industries Development Bank of India came into being during his term.

Education policy: The Education Policy of 1986 had his personal imprint. Navodaya Vidyalayas emerged from this initiative.

Voting age: During his term, the voting age was reduced to 18 years and Swami Vivekananda’s birthday was declared as National Youth Day.