‘Papa, I will fully shoulder…’: Rahul Gandhi remembers father Rajiv Gandhi with emotional note, childhood photo | India News
New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday paid tribute to his father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi by sharing a childhood photo with him on his 35th death anniversary. Paying tribute to him, Rahul said he will continue to work towards fulfilling his father’s dream of a strong and prosperous India.In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi wrote, “Bapa, I will fully shoulder the dream of an efficient, prosperous and strong India that you envisioned. Your teachings, your values and your memories will always be with me.”Senior Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also paid tributes to Rajiv Gandhi at his Vir Bhoomi in Delhi. Priyanka Gandhi’s children Miraya and Raihan Bhadra were also present at the tribute ceremony.Congress president Mallikarjun Kharg remembered Rajiv Gandhi as a ‘prodigious son of India’ and highlighted his role in shaping modern India through reforms in technology, education and local governance.In a post on X, Kharg wrote, “India is an old country but a young nation… I dream of India — strong, independent, self-reliant and at the forefront of the nations of the world in the service of mankind.”“On his martyrdom day, we pay our deepest respects to former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi, an extraordinary son of India who inspired the hopes and aspirations of millions across the country,” he added.Veteran Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda described Rajiv Gandhi as a symbol of hope for the youth and said the Gandhi family had sacrificed for the country for generations.“Rajiv Gandhi was about to become Prime Minister again before he was assassinated. He is doing everything for India. He was a symbol of hope for the Indian youth, who looked up to him,” Hooda said while talking to reporters at Bir Bhoomi.Congress leader Ashok Gehlot also praised Rajiv Gandhi’s vision for science, technology and youth empowerment.“Rajiv Gandhi was the first person to talk about the 21st century in that era. He believed that people should prepare themselves for the new century, which would put India at par with the rest of the world,” Gehlot said.Rajiv Gandhi became India’s youngest Prime Minister in 1984 at the age of 40 after the assassination of his mother and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He served as Prime Minister until 1989 and was killed in 1991 in a suicide bombing by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during an election rally in Sriperambudur, Tamil Nadu.
