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Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Political Career, Achievements, Awards
Bharat Ratna Ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi Political Career, Achievements, Awards
Rajiv Gandhi had no inclination to follow his family’s tradition and join politics. It was his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi who was being groomed to take up the helms of the political legacy. But Sanjay Gandhi's premature death in a plane crash changed Rajiv Gandhi's destiny.
Succumbing to the pressure of the Congress party politicians and his mother, he reluctantly made his entry into the world of politics, a move that earned the wrath from the press, public and opposition politicians as they saw his emergence as a forced hereditary participation.
Soon, he found himself in the midst of active politics. He acquired significant party influence and became an important political advisor.
In 1981, he won Amethi Lok Sabha seat, once held by his brother, by defeating Sharad Yadav.
In 1982, he became a member of the Asian Games Organizing Committee and played a vital role in the successful conduct of the games.
He was also unanimously elected as the President of the Congress Party.
A fresh election was called by the President Zail Singh in which the Congress party won a landslide victory, and Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister once again.
In 1991 he was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously, India's highest civilian award.
