POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT OF INDIA RAJIV GANDHI

Family
Feroze and Indira Gandhi Sonia Gandhi

Jawaharlal Nehru

20 August 1944 21 May 1991

 Professional pilot for Indian Airlines before entering politics Stayed away from politics despite the fact that his mother was the prime minister Entered politics only after his brother Sanjay Gandhi was assassinated in 1980 Became a member of parliament in 1981

 Within a few months he was made the general secretary of the All-India Congress Committee As general secretary of the congress, his first major achievement was the organization of the Asian Games (1982) He was nominated to be the Prime Minister by the Indian national congress party leaders, after the assassination of his mother

General Facts about his term as Prime Minister

Served only 1 term as pm. From 31 October 1984 until his resignation on 2 December 1989 9th pm of india. 3rd of the family He was the youngest Prime Minister of India (at the age of 40). He also benefited from his youth and a general perception of being Mr. Clean, or free of a background in corrupt politics. Gandhi began leading in a direction significantly different from his mother's socialism.

He improved relations with the United States

The Anti-Sikh massacre

It started after the assassination of Indira Gandhi on 31st October 1984 On the 1st of November, mobs fan out in different directions in Delhi The mobs swarmed into Sikh neighborhoods, killing any Sikh men they could find

The Akali Dal

A Political Party in Punjab Threatened to launch agitations if the government did not 1) release senior Akali Dal leaders 2) initiate an inquiry into the AntiSikh massacre Sant Harchand Singh Longowal was released and reinstated as the head of the Akali Dal

The Rajiv-Longowal Accord

It was signed by Rajiv Gandhi and Sant Harchand Singh Longowal in 1985 The 3 main points covered were 1)a commission would be set up to better the relationship between the center and the state 2)the agreement to transfer chandigarh to punjab 3)compensation to the victims of violence in punjab

Sri Lanka Policy

Indian Tamils in Sri Lanka were demanding a separate state TAMIL ELAM Their violence resulted in a civil war Thus India had to send the INDIAN PEACE KEEPING FORCE (IPKF) to control the violence.

INDO SRILANKA PEACE ACCORD

The Indi-Srilanka peace accord was signed in Colombo on 29th july 1987 Signed by Rajeev Gandhi and President J.R.Jayewardene. Under the agreement, Colombo agreed to a devolution of power to the provinces. The Srilankan troops moved to the south and the Tamils were to disarm.

LIBERATION OF TAMIL TIGERS EELAM

LTTE initially agreed to disarm but only reluctantly. Thus after a few months they continued their armed struggle again Due to this the IPKF did not leave Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese also revolted from the south.

Shah Bano Case

Shah Bano, a 62 year old Muslim woman was divorced by her husband in 1978 Having no means to support herself and her children, she approached the courts for securing alimony from her husband The court ruled in her favour The orthodox Muslims threatened to agitate in large numbers in all major cities as the Muslim Personal Law claimed a man could divorce a woman without any consequences

 The government passed an act The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986 The act nullified the Supreme Court's judgment in the Shah Bano case Critics argued that fundamentalist minorities can exert pressure on government and judicial decisions

Bofors Scandal
Bofors (an arms company) had paid millions in bribes win a bid to supply India's field howitzer The scandal was worth Rs. 64 crore A number of high ranking government officials including rajiv gandhi were accused of receiving kickbacks

 Gandhi's finance minister, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, uncovered the scandal Middleman associated with the scandal was Ottavio Quattrocchi

Gandhi was assassinated even while the case was being investigated In 1999 he was charged with participating in a kickback scheme in the Bofors scandal

Assassination
He was assassinated on the 21 May 1991 It happened at Sriperumbudur The assassin was Thenmuli Rajaratnam, a member of the LTTE In 1998, all 26 accused of the assassination were convicted

The Achievements
Improved bilateral relations with the US and also aimed at close friendship with the USSR. Expansion of economic and scientific cooperation. Introduced measures for reducing LICENSE RAJ. Promoted higher education programs across India. His efforts created MTNL.

 "India is an old country, but a young nation; and like the young everywhere, we are impatient. I am young and I too have a dream. I dream of an India, strong, independent, self reliant and in the forefront of the front ranks of the nations of the world in the service of mankind."

Thank You
project by shubham bagri-5 rishi dhandhia-15 ishaan kapoor-25 raina mehta-35 fatema rasiwala-45 niraj singhvi-55