Rajiv Gandhi

Prime Minister of India from 1984 to 1989

This article is about the politician. For other uses, see Rajiv Gandhi (disambiguation).

Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi in 1987

Prime Minister of India
In office
31 October 1984 – 2 December 1989
President|

* Zail Singh
* Ramaswamy Venkataraman

Vice President|

* Ramaswamy Venkataraman
* Shankar Dayal Sharma

Preceded by| Indira Gandhi
Succeeded by| V. P. Singh
Leader of the Opposition, Lok Sabha
In office
18 December 1989 – 23 December 1990
Prime Minister| V. P. Singh
Preceded by| Jagjivan Ram
Succeeded by| L. K. Advani
President of the Indian National Congress
In office
28 December 1985 – 21 May 1991
Preceded by| Indira Gandhi
Succeeded by| P. V. Narasimha Rao
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
17 August 1981 – 21 May 1991
Preceded by| Sanjay Gandhi
Succeeded by| Satish Sharma
Constituency| Amethi, Uttar Pradesh
Personal details
Born|

Rajiv Gandhi

(1944-08-20)20 August 1944
Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died| 21 May 1991(1991-05-21) (aged 46)
Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, India
Manner of death| Assassination
Political party| Indian National Congress
Spouse|

Sonia Maino

(m. 1968)​

Children|

* Rahul Gandhi (son)
* Priyanka Gandhi (daughter)

Parents|

* Feroze Gandhi (father)
* Indira Gandhi (mother)

Relatives| Nehru–Gandhi family
Alma mater|

* Trinity College, Cambridge (dropped out)
* Imperial College London (dropped out)

Occupation| Politician
Awards| Bharat Ratna (1991)
Monuments| Vir Bhumi
Signature|

|  |

This article is part of
a series about

Rajiv Gandhi

|

Prime Minister of India

(1984–1989)

* Family
* Early life and education
* Assassination
* Memorial
* Foundation
* Eponyms

* * *

Premiership

* * *

* General elections
* 1984
* 1989
* Union Council of Ministers
* Rajiv I
* Rajiv II
* Lok Sabha
* Seventh
* Eighth
* Ninth

* * *

Constitutional amendments

* * *

* 52nd
* 53rd
* 54th
* 55th
* 56th
* 57th
* 58th
* 59th
* 60th
* 61st

* * *

National policy

* * *

Legislations

* NPE
* Anti-defection law
* Muslim Women Act
* Representation of Women
* NDPS
* Prevention of Corruption Act

* * *

Treaties and accords

* Assam Accord
* Non-Nuclear Aggression Agreement
* Mizoram Peace Accord
* Rajiv–Longowal Accord

* * *

Missions and agencies

* BIRF

* * *

Controversies

* 1984 Anti-Sikh riots
* Bofors scandal
* Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War

* * *

Wars and attacks

* Sri Lankan Civil War
* Operation Pawan
* Operation Brasstacks
* Operation Flowers are Blooming

Gallery: Picture, Sound, Video

* v
* t
* e

Rajiv Gandhi[a] (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991)[1] was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the assassination of his mother, then–prime minister Indira Gandhi, to become at the age of 40 the youngest Indian prime minister. He served until his defeat at the 1989 election, and then became Leader of the Opposition, Lok Sabha, resigning in December 1990, six months before his own assassination.

Gandhi was not related to Mahatma Gandhi. Instead, he was from the politically powerful Nehru–Gandhi family, which had been associated with the Indian National Congress party. For much of his childhood, his maternal grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru was prime minister. Gandhi attended The Doon School, an elite boarding institution, and then the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He returned to India in 1966 and became a professional pilot for the state-owned Indian Airlines. In 1968, he married Sonia Maino; the couple settled in Delhi for a domestic life with their children Rahul and Priyanka. For much of the 1970s, his mother was prime minister and his younger brother Sanjay an MP; despite this, Gandhi remained apolitical.

After Sanjay died in a plane crash in 1980, Gandhi reluctantly entered politics at the behest of his mother. The following year he won his brother's Parliamentary seat of Amethi and became a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's Parliament. As part of his political grooming, Rajiv was made general secretary of the Congress party and given significant responsibility in organising the 1982 Asian Games.

On the morning of 31 October 1984, his mother (the then prime minister) was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards[2][3][4][5] Satwant Singh and Beant Singh in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, an Indian military action to remove Sikh separatist activists from the Golden Temple. Later that day, Gandhi was appointed prime minister. His leadership was tested over the next few days as organised mobs rioted against the Sikh community, resulting in anti-Sikh massacres in Delhi. That December, the Congress party won the largest Lok Sabha majority to date, 414 seats out of 541. Gandhi's period in office was mired in controversies such as Bhopal disaster, Bofors scandal and Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum. In 1988, he reversed the coup in Maldives, antagonising militant Tamil groups such as PLOTE, intervening and then sending peacekeeping troops to Sri Lanka in 1987, leading to open conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). His party was defeated in the 1989 election.

Gandhi remained Congress president until the elections in 1991. While campaigning for the elections, he was assassinated by a suicide bomber from the LTTE. In 1991, the Indian government posthumously awarded Gandhi the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award. At the India Leadership Conclave in 2009, the Revolutionary Leader of Modern India award was conferred posthumously on Gandhi.[6]

## Early life and career

[edit]

Gandhi with his mother Indira, maternal grandpa Jawaharlal Nehru and brother Sanjay in 1949 Gandhi with his mother Indira Gandhi and brother Sanjay Gandhi in 1971

Rajiv Gandhi was born in Bombay (Mumbai) on 20 August 1944 to Indira and Feroze Gandhi. In 1951, Rajiv and his younger brother Sanjay were admitted to Shiv Niketan school, where the teachers said Gandhi was shy and introverted, and "greatly enjoyed painting and drawing".[7] He then studied at the St. Columba's School, Delhi.[8] Thereafter, he was admitted to the preparatory Welham Boys' School and then moved to The Doon School, Dehradun in 1954, where Sanjay joined him two years later.[9] At Doon, Gandhi's senior was Mani Shankar Aiyar, who later became a prominent member in his inner circle.[10] Gandhi was also educated at the Ecole d'Humanité, an international boarding school in Switzerland.[11] He left the Doon School in 1961 with a second-class certificate, having performed well in his final subjects apart from a pass mark in chemistry.[12]

During Gandhi's final year at Doon, his mother and Albert D'Rozario, the scientific attaché at the Indian High Commission in London, arranged his application to Cambridge University.[12] D'Rozario, who had been a college classmate of Gandhi's father Feroze, recommended that Gandhi should read engineering, and met with Mark Pryor, the Senior Tutor at Trinity College, Cambridge.[12] Pryor arranged for Gandhi's conditional admission to Trinity, contingent on his passing the Mechanical Sciences Qualifying (MSQ) Examination with acceptable marks.[12] After studying for his A-Levels at the sixth form college of Davies, Laing & Dick in London, Gandhi sat the MSQ Examination in March 1962 but was unsuccessful. He passed on his second attempt in June, and was admitted to Trinity on 4 September 1962, joining the college in October.[12] While at Trinity, he joined the Cambridge University Boat Club.[12]

During Gandhi's time at Cambridge, his mother and D'Rozario remained concerned about his well-being. D'Rozario, who along with his wife Sophy often hosted Gandhi at their Finchley home, took Gandhi to task for his inattention towards his studies.[12] Despite his support, Gandhi failed end-of-year exams and left Trinity in 1965 without a degree,[13] though he kept in touch with his former mentor in his retirement.[12] In 1966 he began a course in mechanical engineering at Imperial College London, but also failed to complete it. Gandhi really was not studious enough, as he went on to admit later.[14]

Gandhi returned to India in 1966, the year his mother became prime minister. He went to Delhi and became a member of the Flying Club, where he trained as a pilot. In 1970, he was employed as a pilot by Indian Airlines; unlike Sanjay, he did not exhibit any interest of joining politics.[15] In 1968, after three years of courtship, he married Edvige Antonia Albina Màino, who changed her name to Sonia Gandhi and made India her home. Their first child, a son, Rahul was born in 1970. In 1972, the couple had a daughter, Priyanka, who married Robert Vadra.[16] Gandhi was a friend of Amitabh Bachchan, and was familiar with Bachchan even before he launched his acting career. Rajiv, Sanjay and Bachchan spent time together when Bachchan was student in Delhi University and a resident of New Delhi. In the 1980s, Bachchan entered politics to support Gandhi.[17]

## Entry into politics

[edit]

On 23 June 1980, Rajiv's younger brother Sanjay Gandhi died unexpectedly in an aeroplane crash. At that time, Rajiv Gandhi was in London as part of his foreign tour. Hearing the news, he returned to Delhi and cremated Sanjay's body.[18] As per Agarwal, in the week following Sanjay's death, Shankaracharya Swami Shri Swaroopanand, a saint from Badrinath, visited the family's house to offer his condolences.[19] He advised Rajiv not to fly aeroplanes and instead "dedicate himself to the service of the nation".[20] Seventy members of the Congress party signed a proposal and went to Indira, urging Rajiv to enter politics. Indira told them it was Rajiv's decision whether to enter politics. When he was questioned about it, he replied, "If my mother gets help from it, then I will enter politics".[20] Rajiv entered politics on 16 February 1981, when he addressed a national farmers' rally in Delhi.[21] During this time, he was still an employee of Air India.[22]

### Participation in active politics

[edit]

On 4 May 1981, Indira Gandhi presided over a meeting of the All India Congress Committee. Vasantdada Patil proposed Rajiv as a candidate for Sanjay's old constituency,?Amethi, which was accepted by all members at the meeting. A week later, the party officially announced his candidacy for the constituency. He then paid the party membership fees of the party and flew to Sultanpur to file his nomination papers and completed other formalities.[23] He won the seat, defeating Lok Dal candidate Sharad Yadav by a margin of 237,000 votes.[24] He took his oath on 17 August as Member of Parliament.[22]

Rajiv Gandhi's first political tour was to England, where he attended the wedding ceremony of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on 29 July 1981.[25] In December the same year, he was put in charge of the Indian Youth Congress.[25] He first showed his organisational ability by "working round the clock" on the 1982 Asian Games.[26] He was one of 33 members of the Indian parliament who were part of the Games' organising committee; sports historian Boria Majumdar writes that being "son of the prime minister he had a moral and unofficial authority" over the others.[27] The report submitted by the Asian Games committee mentions Gandhi's "drive, zeal and initiative" for the "outstanding success" of the games.[27]

Rajiv Gandhi during a medal ceremony

### 1984 anti-Sikh riots post Indira Gandhi's death

[edit]

Main article: 1984 anti-Sikh riots

Meeting Russian Hare Krishna devotees in 1989.

On 31 October 1984, the prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi's mother, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards, which led to violent riots against Sikhs.[28] Sources estimate the number of Sikh deaths to be between 8,000 and 17,000.[29] At a Boat Club rally 19 days after the assassination, Gandhi said, "Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji. We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed that India had been shaken. But, when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shake a little".[30] According to Verinder Grover, the statement made by Gandhi was a "virtual justification" of the riots.[28] Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar wrote, "Did it constitute an incitement to mass murder?" He also criticised Gandhi for his reluctance to bring the army from Meerut to handle the mob.[31]

## Prime Minister of India

[edit]

Rajiv Gandhi was in West Bengal on 31 October 1984 when his mother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, to avenge the military attack on the Golden Temple during Operation Blue Star. Sardar Buta Singh and President Zail Singh pressed Rajiv to succeed his mother as prime minister within hours of her murder. Commenting on the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, Rajiv Gandhi said, "When a giant tree falls, the earth below shakes";[32] a statement for which he was widely criticised. Many Congress politicians were accused of orchestrating the violence.[33]

> Indian politics got the youngest ever Prime minister in Rajiv Gandhi. This phenomenon attracted attention the world over. . . his winsome smile, charm and decency were his valuable personal assets. . . A senior opposition member, while talking to me, conceded that . . . he could not conceal his feeling that Rajiv Gandhi would be invincible for the opposition.

— Satyendra Narayan Sinha[34]

Soon after assuming office, Gandhi asked President Singh to dissolve Parliament and hold fresh elections, as the Lok Sabha had completed its five-year term. Gandhi officially became the president of the Congress party, which won a landslide victory with the largest majority in history of the Indian Parliament, giving Gandhi absolute control of government. He benefited from his youth and a general perception of being free of a background in corrupt politics.[35] Gandhi took his oath on 31 December 1984; at 40, he was the youngest prime minister of India.[36] Historian Meena Agarwal writes that even after taking the Prime Ministerial oath, he was a relatively unknown figure, "novice in politics" as he assumed the post after being an MP for three years.[37]

### Prime Minister roles

[edit]

### Cabinet ministers

[edit]

Main articles: First Rajiv Gandhi ministry and Second Rajiv Gandhi ministry

Gandhi's inner circle was labelled 'Doon Cabinet' or 'Dosco Mafia', given the induction of many of his Doon School acquaintances (Gandhi pictured in the Doon School blazer during a Founder's Day visit)

After his swearing-in as prime minister, Gandhi appointed his fourteen-member cabinet. He said he would monitor their performance and would "fire ministers who do not come to the mark".[38] From the Third Indira Gandhi ministry, he removed two powerful figures; Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Railway Minister A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury. Mohsina Kidwai became the Minister of Railways; she was the only female figure in the cabinet. Former Home Minister PV Narasimha Rao was put in charge of defence.[36] V. P. Singh, who was initially appointed as the Finance Minister, was given the Defence Ministry in 1987.[39] During his tenure as prime minister, Gandhi frequently shuffled his cabinet ministers, drawing criticism from the magazine India Today, which called it a "wheel of confusion". The West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu said, "The Cabinet change reflects the instability of the Congress (I) Government at the Centre".[40] He also administered and created the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

#### Dosco Mafia or Doon Cabinet

[edit]

Gandhi, an alumnus of The Doon School, drew criticism from the media for appointing many old boys to his administration.[41] His inner circle was labelled a "Doon Cabinet"[42] or "Dosco Mafia",[43] and Washington Post reported, "The catch phrase around Delhi these days is that the 'Doon School runs India,' but that is too simple an analysis for a complex, chaotic country with so many competing spheres of influence."[44][45] Gandhi's reliance on Doon alumni for political advice later led Prime Minister Morarji Desai to remark, "If I had anything to do with this place, I'd close it down".[44]

### Anti-defection law

[edit]

Gandhi's first action as prime minister was passing the anti-defection law in January 1985. According to this law, an elected Member of Parliament or legislative assembly could not join an opposition party until the next election. Historian Manish Telikicherla Chary calls it a measure of curbing corruption and bribery of ministers by switching parties so they could gain majority.[46] Many such defections occurred during the 1980s as elected leaders of the Congress party joined opposition parties.[47]

### 1985 Congress Sandesh Yatra

[edit]

Rajiv Gandhi had announced 'Sandesh Yatra' at the plenary session of AICC in Mumbai in 1985. The All India Congress Seva Dal ran it across the country.[48] Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) and party leaders made four simultaneous trips from Mumbai, Kashmir, Kanyakumari and the Northeast. The yatra, which lasted for more than three months, concluded at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan.

### Mass connect programmes though Bharat Yatra

[edit]

In 1990, Rajiv Gandhi undertook Bharat Yatra through different modes – padyatra, the second class carriage of an ordinary passenger train.[49] He chose Champaran as the starting point for his 'Bharat Yatra'. Rajiv Gandhi started the Sadbhavna Yatra from Charminar in Hyderabad on 19 October 1990.[50][51][52]

### Shah Bano case

[edit]

Main article: Shah Bano case

In 1985, the Supreme Court of India ruled in favour of Muslim divorcee Shah Bano, declaring that her husband should give her alimony. Some Indian Muslims treated it as an encroachment upon Muslim Personal Law and protested against it. Gandhi agreed to their demands.[53] In 1986, the Parliament of India passed The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986, which nullified the Supreme Court's judgment in the Shah Bano case. The Act diluted the Supreme Court judgment and allowed maintenance payments to divorced women only during the period of Iddah, or until 90 days after the divorce, according to the provisions of Islamic law. This was in contrast to Section 125 of the Code.[54][55] Indian magazine Business and Economics called it a minority appeasement by Gandhi.[56] Lawyer and former Law Minister of India, Ram Jethmalani, called the Act "retrogressive obscurantism for short-term minority populism".[57] Gandhi's colleague Arif Mohammad Khan, who was then a Member of Parliament, resigned in protest.[58]

### Economic policy

[edit]

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with Ram Kishore Shukla in 1988.

In his election manifesto for the 1984 general election, he did not mention any economic reforms, but after assuming office he tried to liberalise the country's economy.[59] He sought to liberalise India's trade policies but faced stiff opposition to the proposed reforms.[60][59] He did so by providing incentives to make private production profitable. Subsidies were given to corporate companies to increase industrial production, especially of durable goods.[contradictory] It was hoped this would increase economic growth and improve the quality of investment.[59] Rural and tribal people protested because they saw them as "pro-rich" and "pro-city" reforms.[59]

Gandhi increased government support for science, technology and associated industries, and reduced import quotas, taxes and tariffs on technology-based industries, especially computers, airlines, defence and telecommunications. In 1986, he announced a National Policy on Education to modernise and expand higher education programs across India. In 1986, he founded the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya System, which is a Central government-based education institution that provides rural populations with free residential education from grades six to twelve.[61] His efforts created MTNL in 1986, and his public call offices—better known as PCOs—helped develop the telephone network in rural areas.[62] He introduced measures to significantly reduce the Licence Raj after 1990, allowing businesses and individuals to purchase capital, consumer goods and import without bureaucratic restrictions.[63]

### Foreign policy

[edit]

President Ronald Reagan, Sonia Gandhi, First Lady Nancy Reagan and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, during a state dinner for Prime Minister Gandhi. June 1985.

According to Rejaul Karim Laskar, a scholar of Indian foreign policy and an ideologue of Congress party, Rajiv Gandhi's vision for a new world order was premised on India's place in its front rank.[64] According to Laskar, the "whole gamut" of Rajiv Gandhi's foreign policy was "geared towards" making India "strong, independent, self-reliant and in the front rank of the nations of the world."[64] According to Laskar, Rajiv Gandhi's diplomacy was "properly calibrated" so as to be "conciliatory and accommodating when required" and "assertive when the occasion demanded."[64]

In 1986, by request of the president of Seychelles France-Albert René, Gandhi sent India's navy to Seychelles to oppose an attempted coup against René. The intervention of India averted the coup. This mission was codenamed as Operation Flowers are Blooming.[65] In 1987, India re-occupied the Quaid Post in the disputed Siachen region of the Indo-Pakistani border after winning what was termed Operation Rajiv.[66] In the 1988 Maldives coup d'état, the Maldives president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom asked for help from Gandhi. He dispatched 1500 soldiers and the coup was suppressed.[67]

On Thursday, 9 June 1988, at the fifteenth special session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at Headquarters, New York, Gandhi made vocal his views on a world free of nuclear weapons, to be realised through an, 'Action Plan for Ushering in a Nuclear-Weapon Free and Non-Violent World Order.'[68][69]

He said:

> Alas, nuclear weapons are not the only weapons of mass destruction. New knowledge is being generated in the life sciences. Military applications of these developments could rapidly undermine the existing convention against the military use of biological weapons. The ambit of our concern must extend to all means of mass annihilation.

This was based on his prior historic speech before the Japanese National Diet on 29 November 1985, in which he said:

> Let us remove the mental partitions which obstruct the ennobling vision of the human family linked together in peace and prosperity. The Buddha's message of compassion is the very condition of human survival in our age.[70][71][72]

The foiled bid of India recently to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group, echoed his policy of non-proliferation to be linked to universal disarmament, which the World Nuclear Association refuses to recognise; non-proliferation being seen by India as essentially a weapon of the arms control regime, of the big nuclear powers as United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, and China.[73][74]

#### Pakistan

[edit]

In February 1987, the Pakistani president Zia-ul-Haq visited Delhi, where he met Gandhi to discuss "routine military exercises of the Indian army" on the borders of Rajasthan and Punjab. Gandhi reciprocated, in December 1988, by visiting Islamabad and meeting the new prime minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, to reaffirm the 1972 Shimla agreement.[75]

#### Sri Lanka

[edit]

See also: Sri Lankan civil war and Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War

The Sri Lankan Civil War broke out with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which was demanding an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka. Gandhi discussed the matter with the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa at the SAARC meeting in 1986. In that year, the Sri Lankan army blockaded the Tamil majority district of Jaffna; Gandhi ordered relief supplies to be dropped into the area by parachute because the Sri Lankan navy did not allow the Indian Navy to enter.[76]

Gandhi signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in July 1987. The accord "envisaged a devolution of power to the Tamil-majority areas", dissolved the LTTE, and designated Tamil as an official language of Sri Lanka.[77] Gandhi said:

> The Government of India believe that, despite some problems and delays, many of which were foreseen but unavoidable in the resolution of an issue of this magnitude and complexity, this Agreement represents the only way of safeguarding legitimate Tamil interests and ensuring a durable peace in Sri Lanka. Some have chosen to criticise the Agreement. None has shown a better way of meeting the legitimate aspirations of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, restoring peace in that country and of meeting our own security concern in the region. We have accepted a role which is difficult, but which is in our national interests to discharge. We shall not shrink our obligations and commitments. This is a national endeavour.[77]

Chanderasekar withdrew the IPKF in 1989.[75]

#### Assault by Sri Lankan guard

[edit]

See also: List of assassination attempts on prime ministers of India

On 30 July 1987, a day after Gandhi went to Sri Lanka and signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, an honour guard named Vijitha Rohana hit him on his shoulder with his rifle; Gandhi's quick reflexes saved him from injury. The guard was then dragged off by his security personnel.[78][79] The guard said his intention was to kill Gandhi because of "the damage he had caused" to Sri Lanka. Wijemuni was imprisoned for 2+1⁄2 years for the assault.[78] Gandhi later said about the incident:

> When I was inspecting the guard of honour and as I walked past one person, I saw through the corner of my eye some movement. I ducked down a little bit in a reflex action. By my ducking, he missed my head and the brunt of the blow came on my shoulder below the left ear.[79]

### Regional issues

[edit]

Rajiv Gandhi (left) congratulates Indian Army explorers for reaching the South Pole.

#### Punjab

[edit]

Soon after assuming office, Gandhi released the leaders of the Akali Dal who had been imprisoned since 1984's Operation Blue Star during Indira Gandhi's prime ministership. He lifted the ban on All India Sikh Students Federation and filed an inquiry into the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots. He also held a closed-door meeting with senior Akali Dal leaders to find a solution to the Punjab problem. Despite Akali opposition, in January 1985, Gandhi signed the Rajiv-Longowal Accord with Akali leader HS Longowal. Punjab's state assembly election was scheduled in September 1985, but Longowal died and was replaced by Surjit Singh Barnala, who formed the government. After two years, in 1987, Barnala resigned his office because of a breakdown of law and order, leading to the implementation of President's rule in the state.[80]

In May 1988, Gandhi launched the Operation Black Thunder to clear the Golden Temple in Amritsar of arms and gunmen. Two groups called National Security Guard and Special Action Group were created; they surrounded the temple in a 10-day siege during which the extremists' weapons were confiscated. Congress leader Anand Sharma said, "Operation Black Thunder effectively demonstrated the will of Rajiv Gandhi's government to take firm action to bring peace to Punjab".[81]

#### Northeast India

[edit]

Gandhi's prime-ministership marked an increase of insurgency in northeast India. Mizo National Front demanded independence for Mizoram. In 1987, Gandhi addressed this problem; Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh were given the status of states that were earlier union territories.[82] Gandhi also ended the Assam Movement, which was launched by Assamese people to protest against the alleged illegal migration of Bangladeshi Muslims and immigration of other Bengalis to their state, which had reduced the Assamese to a minority there. He signed the Assam Accord on 15 August 1985. According to the accord, foreigners who came to the state between 1951 and 1961 were given full citizenship but those who arrived there between 1961 and 1971 did not get right to vote for the next ten years.[83]

### Technology

[edit]

Gandhi employed former Rockwell International executive Sam Pitroda as his adviser on public information infrastructure and innovation. During Gandhi's time in office, public sector telecom companies MTNL and VSNL were developed.[84] According to Pitroda, Gandhi's ability to resist pressure from multi-national companies to abandon his plan to spread telecommunication services has been an important factor in India's development. According to news website Oneindia, "About 20 years ago telephones were considered to be a thing for the use of the rich, but credit goes to Rajiv Gandhi for taking them to the rural masses".[85] Pitroda also said their plan to expand India's telephone network succeeded because of Gandhi's political support. According to Pitroda, by 2007 they were "adding six million phones every month".[85] Gandhi's government also allowed the import of fully assembled motherboards, which led to the price of computers being reduced.[86] According to some commentators, the seed for the information technology (IT) revolution was also planted during Rajiv Gandhi's time.[86]

### Bofors scandal, HDW scandal and 1989 elections defeat

[edit]

Main article: Bofors scandal

Rajiv Gandhi's finance minister, V. P. Singh, uncovered compromising details about government and political corruption, to the consternation of Congress leaders. Transferred to the Defence Ministry, Singh uncovered what became known as the Bofors scandal, which involved millions of US dollars and concerned alleged payoffs by the Swedish arms company Bofors through Italian businessman and Gandhi family associate Ottavio Quattrocchi, in return for Indian contracts. Upon discovering the scandal, Singh was dismissed from office and later resigned his Congress membership. Gandhi was later personally implicated in the scandal when the investigation was continued by Narasimhan Ram and Chitra Subramaniam of The Hindu newspaper, damaging his image as an honest politician. In 2004, he was posthumously cleared of this allegation.[87]

In an interview in July 2005, V. P. Singh explained that his fall out with Rajiv Gandhi was not due to the Bofors deal, but rather due to the HDW deal. Courtesy a contract signed with the German company HDW in 1981, the Indian government had agreed to purchase two ready submarines built in Germany by HDW and two submarines in CKD form to be assembled in Mazagaon docks. V. P. Singh had received a telegram from the Indian ambassador in Germany, stating that an Indian agent had received commissions in the HDW submarine deal. He told Rajiv Gandhi about this and instituted an enquiry. This led to differences and V. P. Singh resigned from the cabinet.[88]

In his book, Unknown Facets of Rajiv Gandhi, Jyoti Basu and Indrajit Gupta, released in November 2013, former CBI director Dr. A P Mukherjee wrote that Gandhi wanted commission paid by defence suppliers to be used exclusively for meeting running expenses of the Congress party.[89] Mukherjee said Gandhi explained his position in a meeting between the two at the prime minister's residence on 19 June 1989.[90] In May 2015, Indian president Pranab Mukherjee said the scandal was a "media trial" as "no Indian court has as yet established it as a scandal".[91]

Opposition parties Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Socialist) and Jan Morcha united under Singh to form the Janata Dal.[92] Singh led the National Front coalition to victory in 1989 elections and he was sworn in as prime minister. Though the coalition won 143 seats compared to Congress's 197, it gained majority in the lower house of the parliament through outside support from the Bharatiya Janta Party under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani and the left parties such as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India.[93] Eminent lawyer and politician, former Law Minister of India Ram Jethmalani said that as prime minister, Gandhi was "lacklustre and mediocre".[57]

## Assassination

[edit]

Main article: Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi's last public meeting was on 21 May 1991,[1][94][95] at Sriperumbudur, a village approximately 40 km (25 miles) from Madras (present-day Chennai), where he was assassinated while campaigning for the Sriperumbudur Lok Sabha Congress candidate. At 10:10 pm, a woman later identified as 22-year old Kalaivani Rajaratnam – a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam – approached Gandhi in public and greeted him. She then bent down to touch his feet and detonated a belt laden with 700 g (1.5 lb) of RDX explosives tucked under her dress.[96]

Veer Bhumi at Delhi, where Rajiv Gandhi was cremated

The explosion killed Gandhi, Rajaratnam, and at least 14 other people.[97] The assassination was captured by a 21-year-old local photographer, whose camera and film were found at the site. The cameraman, named Haribabu, died in the blast but the camera remained intact.[98] Gandhi's mutilated body was airlifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi for post-mortem, reconstruction, and embalming.[99]

A state funeral was held for Gandhi on 24 May 1991; it was telecast live and was attended by dignitaries from over 60 countries.[100] He was cremated at Vir Bhumi, on the banks of the river Yamuna near the shrines of his mother Indira Gandhi, brother Sanjay Gandhi, and grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru.[1]

### Aftermath

[edit]

The Rajiv Gandhi Memorial, at Sriperumbudur

The Supreme Court judgement, by Justice K. T. Thomas, confirmed that Gandhi was killed because of personal animosity by the LTTE chief Prabhakaran arising from his sending the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka and the IPKF atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamils.[101] The Gandhi administration had already antagonised other Tamil militant organisations like PLOTE for reversing the 1988 military coup in Maldives. The judgement further cites the death of Thileepan in a hunger strike and the suicide by 12 LTTE cadres in a vessel in Oct 1987.[102]

In the Jain Commission report, various people and agencies are named as suspects in the murder of Rajiv Gandhi. Among them, the cleric Chandraswami was suspected of involvement, including financing the assassination.[103][104] Nalini Sriharan, the only surviving member of the five-member squad behind the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, is serving life imprisonment. Arrested on 14 June 1991, she and 25 others were sentenced to death by a special court on 28 January 1998. The court confirmed the death sentences of four of the convicts, including Nalini, on 11 May 1999.[105] Nalini was a close friend of an LTTE operative known as Sriharan alias Murugan, another convict in the case who has been sentenced to death. Nalini later gave birth to a girl, Harithra, in prison. Nalini's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in April 2000.[106] Rajiv's widow, Sonia Gandhi, intervened and asked for clemency for Nalini on the grounds of the latter being a mother.[107] Later, it was reported that Gandhi's daughter, Priyanka, had met Nalini at Vellore Central Prison in March 2008.[108] Nalini regrets the killing of Gandhi and said the real conspirators have not been caught yet.[109][110]

In August 2011, the president of India rejected the clemency pleas of Murugan and two others on death row—Suthendraraja, alias Santhan, and Perarivalan, alias Arivu.[111] The execution of the three convicts was scheduled for 9 September 2011. However, the Madras High Court intervened and stayed their executions for eight weeks based on their petitions. In 2010, Nalini had petitioned the Madras High Court seeking release because she had served more than 20 years in prison. She argued that even life convicts were released after 14 years. The state government rejected her request.[112][113][114] Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan have said they are political prisoners rather than ordinary criminals.[115][116][117] On 18 February 2014, the Supreme Court of India commuted the death sentences of Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan to life imprisonment, holding that the 11-year-long delay in deciding their mercy petition had a dehumanising effect on them.[118][119] On 19 February 2014 Tamil Nadu government decided to release all seven convicts in Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case, including A. G. Perarivalan and Nalini.[120] The Government of India challenged this decision before the Supreme Court, which referred the case to a Constitution Bench.[121]

The report of the Jain Commission created controversy when it accused the Tamil Nadu chief minister Karunanidhi of a role in the assassination, leading to Congress withdrawing its support for the I. K. Gujral government and fresh elections in 1998. LTTE spokesman Anton Balasingham told the Indian television channel NDTV the killing was a "great tragedy, a monumental historical tragedy which we deeply regret".[122][123] A memorial called Vir Bhumi was constructed at the place of Gandhi's cremation in Delhi. In 1992, the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award was instituted by the Indian National Congress Party.

Since his death, 21 May has been declared Anti-Terrorism Day in India.[124]

A Panoramic view of Rajiv Gandhi Memorial

## Awards and honours

[edit]

* India:
* Bharat Ratna (1991, posthumous)

## Institutions named after Gandhi

[edit]

Main article: List of things named after Rajiv Gandhi

## In popular culture

[edit]

See also: Category:Cultural depictions of Rajiv Gandhi and Category:Works about the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi

A number of films have been made in India focusing on Rajiv Gandhi's life especially on his assassination. India's Rajiv is a 1991 Indian documentary television series by Simi Garewal, released closely after Gandhi's assassination it covers his life up to that event.[125] Indian films specifically focusing on the assassination plot include The Terrorist (1997) by Santosh Sivan,[126] Cyanide (2006) by A. M. R. Ramesh,[127] Kuttrapathirikai (2007) by R. K. Selvamani with Anupam Kher in the role of Gandhi,[128] Mission 90 Days (2007) by Major Ravi,[129] and Madras Cafe (2013) by Shoojit Sircar starring Sanjay Gurbaxani as the former prime minister.[130]

Pradhanmantri (lit. 'Prime Minister'), a 2013 Indian documentary television series which aired on ABP News and covers the various policies and political tenures of Indian PMs, includes the tenureship of Rajiv Gandhi in the episodes "Rajiv Gandhi becomes PM and Shah Bano case", "Ayodhya dispute", "Rajiv Gandhi and Bofors scandal", and "Rise of LTTE and Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi" with Mohit Chauhan portraying the role of Gandhi.[131]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ /ˈrɑːdʒiːv ˈɡɑːndiː/ ⓘ; Hindi pronunciation: [ɾaːd͡ʒiːʋ gaːn̪d̪ʱiː]

## References

[edit]

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## Cited sources

[edit]

* Agarwal, Meena (2004). Rajiv Gandhi. Diamond Pocket Books. ISBN 9788128809002.
* Aiyar, Mani Shankar (2006). Confessions of a Secular Fundamentalist. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780143062059.
* Sharma, Anand (2011). Journey of a Nation. Academic Foundation. ISBN 9788171888405.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Bhagwati, Jaimini. The Promise of India: How Prime Ministers Nehru to Modi Shaped the Nation (1947-2019) (Penguin Random House India, 2019), chapter 5.
* Blakeslee, David S. "Politics and public goods in developing countries: Evidence from the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi." Journal of Public Economics 163 (2018): 1–19. online
* Guha, Ramachandra. India after Gandhi: the history of the world's largest democracy (2007) pp 565–594. online
* Haskins, James. India under Indira and Rajiv Gandhi (1989) online
* Kaarthikenyan, D. R., and Radhavinod Raju. Rajiv Gandhi Assassination (Sterling Publishers, 2008).
* Kapur, Harish. "India's foreign policy under Rajiv Gandhi." The Round Table 76.304 (1987): 469–480. India's foreign policy under Rajiv Gandhi
* Kapur, Harish. Foreign policies of India's prime ministers (Lancer Publishers LLC, 2013) online.
* Malone, David M., C. Raja Mohan, and Srinath Raghavan, eds. The Oxford handbook of Indian foreign policy (2015) excerpt pp 117–130.
* Manor, James. "Rajiv Gandhi and post-election India: opportunities and risks." The World Today 41.3 (1985): 51–54. online
* Mehta, Ved. Rajiv Gandhi and Rama's kingdom (Yale UP, 1995) online scholarly history of politics.
* Nugent, Nicholas. Rajiv Gandhi: son of a dynasty (BBC Books, 1990) online
* Ramanujam, V., Dabhade, M.S. Rajiv Gandhi's Summit Diplomacy: A Study of the Beijing Summit, 1988 China Report (2019). No. 55(4). pp. 310–327
* Roberts, Michael. "Killing Rajiv Gandhi: Dhanu's sacrificial metamorphosis in death." South Asian History and Culture 1.1 (2009): 25–41. online
* Shourie, Arun. These lethal, inexorable laws: Rajiv, his men and his regime (Delhi: South Asia Books, 1992).
* Weiner, Myron. "Rajiv Gandhi: A mid-term assessment." in India Briefing, 1987 (Routledge, 2019) pp. 1–23.
* Zaitcev A. — The activity of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty in Modern Indian English-language Historiography (from 1991 to the present) Genesis: Historical research (2022). – No. 7. – pp. 1–13. DOI: 10.25136/2409-868X.2022.7.38347 EDN: EPEXHR URL: The activity of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty in Modern Indian English-language Historiography (from 1991 to the present)

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rajiv Gandhi.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Rajiv Gandhi.

* Profile at PMO website
* Works by Rajiv Gandhi at Open Library
* Appearances on C-SPAN
* Rajiv Gandhi at IMDb

Offices and distinctions

| Lok Sabha

Preceded by

Sanjay Gandhi

|  Member of Parliament
for Amethi
1981–1991  | Succeeded by

Satish Sharma

Political offices
Preceded by

Indira Gandhi

|  Prime Minister of India
31 October 1984 – 2 December 1989  | Succeeded by

V. P. Singh

Chair of the Planning Commission
31 October 1984 – 2 December 1989
Preceded by

Indira Gandhi

|  Union Minister of External Affairs
31 October 1984 – 24 September 1985  | Succeeded by

Bali Ram Bhagat

Preceded by

Khurshed Alam Khan

|  Union Minister of Civil Aviation
31 October 1984 – 24 September 1985  | Succeeded by

Bansi Lal

Preceded by

P. V. Narasimha Rao

|  Union Minister of Defence
25 September 1985 – 24 January 1987  | Succeeded by

V. P. Singh

Preceded by

V. P. Singh

|  Union Minister of Finance
24 January 1987 – 25 July 1987  | Succeeded by

N. D. Tiwari

Preceded by

N. D. Tiwari

|  Union Minister of External Affairs
25 July 1987 – 25 June 1988  | Succeeded by

P. V. Narasimha Rao

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by

Ataur Rahman Khan

|  Chairperson of SAARC
16 November 1986 – 1 November 1987  | Succeeded by

Marich Man Singh Shrestha

* v
* t
* e

Prime Minister of India

* List
* By previous experience

Prime ministers|

* Jawaharlal Nehru
* Lal Bahadur Shastri
* Premiership
* Indira Gandhi
* Morarji Desai
* Premiership
* Charan Singh
* Rajiv Gandhi
* V. P. Singh
* Premiership
* Chandra Shekhar
* P. V. Narasimha Rao
* Atal Bihari Vajpayee
* Premiership
* H. D. Deve Gowda
* Inder Kumar Gujral
* Manmohan Singh
* Narendra Modi (Incumbent)
* Premiership

Acting|

* Gulzarilal Nanda

* Eponyms
* Nehru
* Shastri
* Indira
* Rajiv
* Vajpayee
* International trips
* Nehru
* Indira
* Vajpayee
* Manmohan
* Modi
* Office
* Residence
* Spouse
* Category

* v
* t
* e

Defence ministers of India

* Baldev Singh
* N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
* Jawaharlal Nehru
* Kailash Nath Katju
* V. K. Krishna Menon
* Yashwantrao Chavan
* Swaran Singh
* Jagjivan Ram
* Indira Gandhi
* Bansi Lal
* Chidambaram Subramaniam
* Ramaswamy Venkataraman
* Shankarrao Chavan
* P. V. Narasimha Rao
* Rajiv Gandhi
* V. P. Singh
* K. C. Pant
* Chandra Shekhar
* Sharad Pawar
* Pramod Mahajan
* Mulayam Singh Yadav
* George Fernandes
* Jaswant Singh
* Pranab Mukherjee
* A. K. Antony
* Arun Jaitley
* Manohar Parrikar
* Nirmala Sitharaman
* Rajnath Singh (incumbent)

* v
* t
* e

Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India)

Department

Commerce|

| Divisions|

* Administrative & General Division
* Finance Division
* Economic Division
* Trade Policy Division
* Foreign Trade
* Territorial Division
* Plantation Division
* Supply Division
* State Trading & Infrastructure Division

|

Attached &
Subordinate Offices|

* Directorate General of Foreign Trade
* Directorate General of Supplies & Disposals (DGS&D)
* Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties (DGAD)
* Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics, Kolkata
* Special Economic Zones
* Pay & Account Office (Supply, Commerce & Textiles)

Autonomous Bodies|

* Commodity Boards
* Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority
* Export Inspection Council
* Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
* Indian Institute of Packaging
* Marine Products Export Development Authority
* National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (NaCSA)
* Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA)
* Network for Fish Quality Management & Sustainable Fishing (NETFISH)

PSUs|

* State Trading Corporation (STC)
* PEC Limited
* MMTC Ltd
* Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India
* India Trade Promotion Organisation
* Pay & Account Office (Supply, Commerce & Textiles)

Advisory Bodies|

* Board of Trade (BOT)
* Inter State Trade Council
* Council for Trade Development & Promotion

Export
Promotion Councils|

* Engineering Exports Promotion Council
* Project Export Promotion Council of India (PEPC)
* Basic Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals & Cosmetics Export Promotion Council (Chemexcil)
* Chemicals & Allied Products Export Promotion Council (CAPEXIL)
* Council for Leather Exports
* Sports Goods Export Promotion Council
* Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council
* Shellac Export Promotion Council
* Cashew Export Promotion Council of India
* Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council
* The Plastics Export Promotion Council
* Indian Oil Seeds & Produce Export Promotion Council (IOPEPC)
* Services Export Promotion Council

Other Organisations|

* Federation of Indian Export Organisations
* Indian Diamond Institute
* Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI)
* National Centre for Trade Information
* India Brand Equity Foundation
* Price Stabilization Fund Trust

DPIIT|

| Statutory Bodies|

* Intellectual Property Appellate Board
* Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation
* Copyright Office
* Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry

|

Autonomous
Institutions|

* National Council for Cement & Building Materials (NCCBM)
* Indian Rubber Manufacturers Research Association (IRMRA)
* National Institute of Design
* National Productivity Council (NPC)
* Quality Council of India
* Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI)
* Central Pulp & Paper Research Institute (CPPRI)

Attached &
Subordinate offices|

* Grievance Offices
* Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks
* Office of Chief Controller of Accounts (Disclosure of Central Government Accounting Data)
* Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Intellectual Property Management (NIIPM)
* Principal Account Office
* Office of Technical Adviser (Boilers)
* Tariff Commission
* Office of the Salt Commissioner
* Office of the Economic Adviser
* National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council
* Office of Chief Controller of Accounts

Secretaries|

* Guruprasad Mohapatra(incumbent)

Ministers|

| Industry|

* Syama Prasad Mukherjee
* Harekrushna Mahtab
* Nityanand Kanungo
* Ram Subhag Singh
* H. C. Dasappa
* Tribhuvan Narain Singh
* Damodaram Sanjivayya
* F. A. Ahmed(Industrial Development)
* Dinesh Singh (Industrial Development & Internal Trade)
* Moinul Hoque Choudhury(Industrial Development)
* C Subramaniam(Industrial Development)
* T. A. Pai(Industry)
* Brij Lal Verma
* George Fernandes
* Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
* T. A. Pai
* N. D. Tiwari
* Kotla Vijay Bhaskar Reddy
* Veerendra Patil
* N. D. Tiwari
* J. Vengala Rao
* K. Karunakaran
* Suresh Prabhu
* Murasoli Maran
* Sikandar Bakht

|

Commerce|

* I. I. Chundrigar
* Cooverji Hormusji Bhabha (Commerce)
* Kshitish Chandra Neogy (Commerce)
* Jawaharlal Nehru(Commerce & Industry)
* Sri Prakasa (Commerce)
* Harekrushna Mahtab (Commerce & Industry)
* T T Krishnamachari (Commerce & Industry)
* Swaran Singh
* Morarji Desai (Commerce & Industry)
* Lal Bahadur Shastri(Commerce & Industry)
* KC Reddy (Commerce & Industry)
* Manubhai Shah (As MoS till 24 January 1966)(Commerce)'
* Dinesh Singh(Commerce)
* Bali Ram Bhagat(Foreign Trade & Supply)
* Dinesh Singh(Commerce)
* Lalit Narayan Mishra(MoS)
* D. P. Chattopadhyay(Commerce)(as MoS till 23 December 1976)'
* Morarji Desai(Commerce)
* Mohan Dharia(Commerce)
* Charan Singh(Commerce)
* Hitendra Desai(Commerce)
* Indira Gandhi
* Pranab Mukherjee(Commerce)
* Pranab Mukherjee(Commerce)
* Rajiv Gandhi
* Arjun Singh
* P Shiv Shankar (Commerce)
* N. D. Tiwari (Commerce)
* Dinesh Singh(Commerce & Industry)
* Chandra Shekhar (Commerce)
* Subramanian Swamy (Commerce)
* P Chidambaram(MoS, IC) (Commerce)
* P. V. Narasimha Rao
* P Chidambaram (MoS, IC) (Commerce)
* P. V. Narasimha Rao
* Atal Bihari Vajpayee
* Atal Bihari Vajpayee
* Devendra Prasad Yadav(Commerce)
* Bolla Bulli Ramaiah(Commerce)
* Ramakrishna Hegde(Commerce)
* Murasoli Maran(Commerce & Industry)
* Anand Sharma(Commerce & Industry)
* Nirmala Sitharaman(Commerce & Industry)'(MoS, IC)'
* Suresh Prabhu(Commerce & Industry)
* Piyush Goyal(Commerce and Industry)(incumbent)

MOS|

* Hardeep Singh Puri(incumbent)

* v
* t
* e

Ministry of Communications (India)

Department of Telecommunications|

| Statutory Bodies|

* Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)
* Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

|

Attached Offices|

* Controller General of Communication Accounts (CGCA)
* Director General Telecom (DGT)
* Telecommunication Engineering Center (TEC)
* Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)

Subordinate Offices|

* National Centre for Communication Security (NCCS)
* Wireless Monitoring Organisation (WMO)

Field Offices|

* Controller of Communication Accounts (CCA)

Autonomous Bodies|

* Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT)

Training Institutes|

* National Telecommunications Institute for Policy Research Innovation Training (NTIPRIT)
* National Institute of Communication Finance (NICF)

Others|

* Centre for Excellence in Telecom Technology and Management
* Digital Communications Commission
* Telecom Enforcement Resource and Monitoring (TERM)
* Telephone Advisory Committees (TAC)
* Wireless Planning & Coordination Wing (WPC)

PSUs|

* Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL)
* Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)
* Indian Telephone Industries Limited (ITI)
* Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL)
* Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL)

Civil Service|

* Indian Telecommunication Service
* Indian Radio Regulatory Service

Department of Posts|

* Army Postal Service
* India Post
* India Post Payments Bank

Legislations|

* The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885
* The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1940
* The Indian Post Office Act, 1898
* The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997

Ministers|

* Rafi Ahmed Kidwai
* Amrit Kaur
* Jagjivan Ram
* Raj Bahadur
* Lal Bahadur Shastri
* S. K. Patil
* Jawaharlal Nehru
* P. Subbarayan
* Ashoke Kumar Sen
* Satya Narayan Sinha
* Ram Subhag Singh
* Indira Gandhi
* Sher Singh
* Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna
* Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
* Shankar Dayal Sharma
* Morarji Desai
* Parkash Singh Badal
* George Fernandes
* Brij Lal Varma
* Charan Singh
* Shyam Nandan Mishra
* Bhishma Narain Singh
* C. M. Stephen
* Anant Prasad Sharma
* Rajiv Gandhi
* V. N. Gadgil
* Arjun Singh
* Vasant Sathe
* Bir Bahadur Singh
* V. P. Singh
* K. P. Unnikrishnan
* Chandra Shekhar
* Atal Bihari Vajpayee
* Beni Prasad Verma
* Buta Singh
* Sushma Swaraj
* Jagmohan
* Ram Vilas Paswan
* Pramod Mahajan
* Arun Shourie
* Dayanidhi Maran
* A. Raja
* Manmohan Singh
* Kapil Sibal
* Ravi Shankar Prasad
* Ashwini Vaishnaw (incumbent)

Ministers of State|

* Manoj Sinha
* Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre
* Devusinh Jesingbhai Chauhan (incumbent)

Preceding Ministry: Ministry of Communications and Information Technology

* v
* t
* e

Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (India)

Authorities|

* Central Zoo Authority of India
* National Biodiversity Authority
* National Tiger Conservation Authority

Agencies|

* Andaman & Nicobar Islands Forest and Plantation Development Corporation
* Animal Welfare Board of India
* Botanical Survey of India
* Central Pollution Control Board
* Forest Survey of India
* Zoological Survey of India
* Wildlife Crime Control Bureau

Institutions|

* Centre for Environment Education
* Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education
* Indian Institute of Forest Management
* Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions
* National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management
* National Forest Academy
* Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding
* National Institute of Animal Welfare
* National Museum of Natural History
* Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History
* Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute
* Wildlife Institute of India

Tribunal|

* National Green Tribunal

Legislation|

* Indian Forest Act, 1927
* National Green Tribunal Act
* Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
* Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002

Special projects|

* Cheetah reintroduction in India
* Project Dolphin
* Project Elephant
* Project Tiger

Civil Service|

* Indian Forest Service

Minister|

* Rajiv Gandhi
* Bhajan Lal
* Ziaur Ansari
* V. P. Singh
* Nilamani Routray
* Atal Bihari Vajpayee
* Jai Narain
* Saifuddin Soz
* H. D. Deve Gowda
* Suresh Prabhu
* T. R. Baalu
* Atal Bihari Vajpayee
* Ramesh Bais
* A. Raja
* Manmohan Singh
* M. Veerappa Moily
* Harsh Vardhan
* Prakash Javdekar
* Bhupender Yadav (incumbent)

Minister of state|

* Vir Sen
* Ziaur Ansari^
* Sumati Oraon
* Maneka Gandhi^
* Kamal Nath^
* Rajesh Pilot^
* Jai Narain
* Babulal Marandi
* Dilip Singh Judeo
* Ramesh Bais
* Namo Narain Meena
* S. Regupathy
* Jairam Ramesh^
* Jayanthi Natarajan^
* Prakash Javdekar^
* Anil Madhav Dave^
* Mahesh Sharma
* Babul Supriyo
* Kirti Vardhan Singh (incumbent)

^independent charge

* v
* t
* e

Indian National Congress

History|

* Electoral history
* Nehru–Gandhi family
* The Emergency
* Breakaway parties

Organisation|

* National president
* State presidents
* All India Congress Committee
* Congress Core Committee
* Congress Working Committee

Pradesh
Congress
Committee|

| States|

* Andhra PCC
* Arunachal PCC
* Assam PCC
* Bihar PCC
* Chhattisgarh PCC
* Goa PCC
* Gujarat PCC
* Haryana PCC
* Himachal PCC
* Jharkhand PCC
* Karnataka PCC
* Kerala PCC
* Madhya Pradesh CC
* Maharashtra PCC
* Manipur PCC
* Meghalaya PCC
* Mizoram PCC
* Nagaland PCC
* Odisha PCC
* Punjab PCC
* Rajasthan PCC
* Sikkim PCC
* Tamil Nadu CC
* Telangana PCC
* Tripura PCC
* Uttarakhand PCC
* Uttar Pradesh CC
* West Bengal PCC

|

Union territories|

* Andaman and Nicobar TCC
* Chandigarh TCC
* Dadra and Nagar Haveli Diu and Daman and Diu TCC
* Delhi PCC
* Jammu and Kashmir PCC
* Ladakh TCC
* Lakshadweep TCC
* Puducherry PCC

Regions|

* Mumbai RCC

National presidents|

* Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee
* Dadabhai Naoroji
* Badruddin Tyabji
* George Yule
* William Wedderburn
* Pherozeshah Mehta
* Anandacharlu
* Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee
* Dadabhai Naoroji
* Webb
* Surendranath Banerjee
* Rahimtulla M. Sayani
* C. Sankaran Nair
* Anandamohan Bose
* Romesh Chunder Dutt
* N. G. Chandavarkar
* Dinshaw Edulji Wacha
* Surendranath Banerjee
* Lalmohan Ghosh
* Henry Cotton
* Gopal Krishna Gokhale
* Dadabhai Naoroji
* Rash Behari Ghosh
* Madan Mohan Malaviya
* William Wedderburn
* Bishan Narayan Dar
* Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar
* Nawab Syed Muhammad Bahadur
* Bhupendra Nath Bose
* Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha
* Ambica Charan Mazumdar
* Annie Besant
* Madan Mohan Malaviya
* Syed Hasan Imam
* Motilal Nehru
* Lala Lajpat Rai
* C. Vijayaraghavachariar
* Hakim Ajmal Khan
* Chittaranjan Das
* Mohammad Ali Jauhar
* Abul Kalam Azad
* Mahatma Gandhi
* Sarojini Naidu
* S. Srinivasa Iyengar
* Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari
* Motilal Nehru
* Jawaharlal Nehru
* Vallabhbhai Patel
* Madan Mohan Malaviya
* Nellie Sengupta
* Rajendra Prasad
* Jawaharlal Nehru
* Subhas Chandra Bose
* Abul Kalam Azad
* J. B. Kripalani
* Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya
* Purushottam Das Tandon
* Jawaharlal Nehru
* U. N. Dhebar
* Indira Gandhi
* Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
* K. Kamaraj
* S. Nijalingappa
* Jagjivan Ram
* Shankar Dayal Sharma
* D. K. Barooah
* Indira Gandhi
* Rajiv Gandhi
* P. V. Narasimha Rao
* Sitaram Kesri
* Sonia Gandhi
* Rahul Gandhi
* Mallikarjun Kharge

Prime ministers|

* Jawaharlal Nehru
* Lal Bahadur Shastri
* Indira Gandhi
* Rajiv Gandhi
* P. V. Narasimha Rao
* Manmohan Singh

Leaders|

| Lok Sabha|

* Jawaharlal Nehru
* Gulzarilal Nanda
* Lal Bahadur Shastri
* Satya Narayan
* Indira Gandhi
* Yashwantrao Chavan
* Chembakassery Mathai Stephen
* Rajiv Gandhi
* Arjun Singh
* P. V. Narasimha Rao
* Sharad Pawar
* Sonia Gandhi
* Pranab Mukherjee
* Sushilkumar Shinde
* Mallikarjun Kharge
* Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
* Ravneet Singh Bittu
* Rahul Gandhi

|

Rajya Sabha|

* N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar
* Charu Chandra
* Lal Bahadur Shastri
* Govind Ballabh
* Hafiz Mohamad Ibrahim
* Yashwantrao Chavan
* Jaisukhlal Hathi
* M. C. Chagla
* Jaisukhlal Hathi
* Kodardas Kalidas Shah
* Uma Shankar Dikshit
* Kamalapati Tripathi
* Pranab Mukherjee
* V.P. Singh
* Narayan Dutt Tiwari
* P. Shiv Shankar
* Shankarrao Chavan
* Motilal Vora
* Ahmed Patel
* Anand Sharma
* Jairam Ramesh
* A. K. Antony
* Digvijaya Singh
* P. Chidambaram
* Abhishek Singhvi
* Rajeev Shukla
* Manmohan Singh
* Ghulam Nabi Azad
* Mallikarjun Kharge

Frontal wings|

* All India Mahila Congress
* All India Professionals Congress
* Indian National Trade Union Congress
* Indian Youth Congress
* Kisan and Khet Mazdoor Congress
* National Students' Union of India
* Seva Dal

Chief ministers|

| Current|

* Revanth Reddy
* Siddaramaiah
* Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu
* Revanth Reddy

|

Category

* v
* t
* e

Recipients of Bharat Ratna Award

1954–1960|

* C. Rajagopalachari, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and C. V. Raman (1954)
* Bhagwan Das, M. Visvesvaraya, and Jawaharlal Nehru (1955)
* Govind Ballabh Pant (1957)
* Dhondo Keshav Karve (1958)

1961–1980|

* Bidhan Chandra Roy, and Purushottam Das Tandon (1961)
* Rajendra Prasad (1962)
* Zakir Husain, and Pandurang Vaman Kane (1963)
* Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966)
* Indira Gandhi (1971)
* Varahagiri Venkata Giri (1975)
* K. Kamaraj (1976)
* Mother Teresa (1980)

1981–2000|

* Vinoba Bhave (1983)
* Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987)
* M. G. Ramachandran (1988)
* B. R. Ambedkar, and Nelson Mandela (1990)
* Rajiv Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel, and Morarji Desai (1991)
* Abul Kalam Azad, J. R. D. Tata and Satyajit Ray (1992)
* Gulzarilal Nanda, Aruna Asaf Ali, and A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1997)
* M. S. Subbulakshmi, and C. Subramaniam (1998)
* Jayaprakash Narayan, Amartya Sen, Gopinath Bordoloi, and Ravi Shankar (1999)

2001–2020|

* Lata Mangeshkar, and Bismillah Khan (2001)
* Bhimsen Joshi (2008)
* C. N. R. Rao, and Sachin Tendulkar (2014)
* Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Madan Mohan Malaviya (2015)
* Nanaji Deshmukh, Bhupen Hazarika, and Pranab Mukherjee (2019)

2021–2040|

* Karpoori Thakur, Lal Krishna Advani, Charan Singh, P. V. Narasimha Rao, and M. S. Swaminathan (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Sri Lankan civil war (1983–2009)

Origins|

* Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism
* Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
* Sinhala Only Act
* 1956
* 1958
* Vaddukoddai Resolution
* 1977
* 1981
* Burning of Jaffna Library
* Black July

Combatants|

|  Sri Lanka|

* Army (LRRP)
* Navy
* Air Force
* Police
* Special Task Force
* Home Guards
* Attacks on civilians
* Assassinations

|

LTTE|

* Divisions
* Air Tigers
* Sea Tigers
* Black Tigers
* Attacks
* in the 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* Assassinations
* Suicide bombings

Other militants (list)|

* ENDLF
* ENLF
* EPRLF
* EROS
* PLOTE
* TELO

India|

* Indian Peace Keeping Force

Paramilitary groups|

* EPDP
* TMVP

Phases|

* Eelam War I
* Indian intervention
* Eelam War II
* III
* IV
* Eastern / Northern theatres

Major battles|

* Kokkilai
* Vadamarachchi
* Poomalai
* Pawan
* Jaffna University Helidrop
* Balavegaya
* 1st Elephant Pass
* Pooneryn
* Riviresa
* 1st Mullaitivu
* Weli Oya
* Sath Jaya
* Vavunathivu
* Jayasikurui
* Thandikulam–Omanthai
* 1st Kilinochchi
* Oddusuddan
* A-9 highway
* 2nd Elephant Pass
* Bandaranaike Airport attack
* Point Pedro
* Jaffna
* Thoppigala
* Vidattaltivu
* 2nd Kilinochchi
* 2nd Mullaitivu
* Puthukkudiyirippu

Major events|

* Air Lanka Flight 512
* Indo-Sri Lanka Accord
* Expulsions from Northern province
* Assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali
* Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi
* Assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa
* Temple of the Tooth attack
* Lionair Flight 602
* Bandaranaike Airport attack
* Expulsions from Colombo
* 2009 suicide air raid on Colombo

Leaders|

| Sri Lanka|

| Military|

| Army|

* Tissa Weeratunga
* Nalin Seneviratne
* Hamilton Wanasinghe
* Cecil Waidyaratne
* G. H. De Silva
* Rohan Daluwatte
* Srilal Weerasooriya
* L. P. Balagalle
* Shantha Kottegoda
* Sarath Fonseka

|

Navy|

* Asoka de Silva
* H. A. Silva
* Clancy Fernando
* D. A. M. R. Samarasekara
* H. C. A. C. Thisera
* Daya Sandagiri
* Wasantha Karannagoda

Air Force|

* Dick Perera
* Andibuduge Fernando
* Makalandage Gunawardena
* Oliver Ranasinghe
* Jayalath Weerakkody
* Donald Perera
* Roshan Goonetileke

Civilian|

* J. R. Jayewardene
* Ranasinghe Premadasa
* Dingiri Banda Wijetunga
* Chandrika Kumaratunga
* Mahinda Rajapaksa

LTTE|

| Militant|

* Velupillai Prabhakaran
* Pottu Amman
* Soosai
* Karuna Amman

|

Political|

* Selvarasa Pathmanathan
* Anton Balasingham
* S. P. Thamilselvan

India|

| Military|

* Harkirat Singh
* Ashok K. Mehta
* Kulwant Singh
* Depinder Singh
* Dalvir Singh
* Krishnaswamy Sundarji

|

Civilian|

* R. Venkataraman
* Rajiv Gandhi
* V. P. Singh
* Jyotindra Nath Dixit
* J. Jayalalithaa
* M. Karunanidhi
* Vaiko

Aftermath|

* Genocide
* Films
* NPC resolution
* LLRC
* Reactions (Protests)
* Remembrance Day
* UN Panel on Accountability
* War crimes
* Chemical weapons

Related topics|

* Casualties
* Assassinations
* Massacres
* Child soldiers
* Disappearances
* Office on Missing Persons
* Human rights
* Popular culture
* Terrorism
* Non-state
* State
* PTA
* Sexual violence
* Sixth Amendment
* Thirteenth Amendment
* Women
* 1988 Maldives coup attempt
* 1987–1989 JVP insurrection

* Sri Lankan civil war at Wiktionary
*   Source texts at Wikisource
*   Textbooks at Wikibooks
*   Images and media at the Commons
*   Quotations at Wikiquote
*   News stories at Wikinews

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Japan
* Australia
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Greece
* Poland
* Israel
* Belgium

Academics|

* CiNii

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

People|

* Trove
* Deutsche Biographie

Other|

* IdRef
* SNAC

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