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Rajiv Ratna Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was the Prime Minister of India, serving from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to become the youngest Indian Prime Minister. Gandhi (no relation to Mahatma Gandhi) was a scion of 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 college 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 Gandhi—and the couple settled in Delhi to a domestic life with their children Rahul and Priyanka. For much of the 1970s, his mother was prime minister and his brother Sanjay (earlier Sanjiv) a MP; despite this, Rajiv Gandhi remained apolitical. After Sanjay's death in an aeroplane crash in 1980, Gandhi reluctantly entered politics at the behest of Indira. The following year he won his brother's Parliamentary seat 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 a general secretary of the Congress and given significant responsibility in organising the 1982 Asian Games. On the morning of 31 October 1984, his mother was assassinated by her bodyguards; later that day, Gandhi was appointed Prime Minister. Gandhi's leadership was tested over the next few days as organised mobs rioted against the Sikh community, resulting in riots in Delhi. That December, a nationwide sympathy vote for the Congress party helped it win its largest-ever Lok Sabha majority—411 seats out of 542. Rajiv Gandhi's period in office was mired in controversy; the Bhopal disaster and the Shah Bano case. In 1988, he reversed the coup in Maldives, antagonising militant Tamil groups such as PLOTE, intervening and then sending Indian Peace Keeping Force troops to Sri Lanka in 1987, leading to open conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In mid-1987, the Bofors scandal damaged his corruption-free image and resulted in a major defeat for his party in the 1989 elections. Gandhi remained Congress President until the elections in 1991. While campaigning for the elections, he was assassinated by a suicide bomber from the LTTE. His widow Sonia became the president of Congress party in 1998, and led the party to victory in the 2004 and 2009 parliament elections. His son Rahul is a Member of Parliament and Vice President of the Congress. In 1991, the Indian government posthumously awarded Gandhi the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award. ==Early life and career== Gandhi was born in Mumbai on 20 August 1944 to Indira and Feroze Gandhi. He was named Rajiv after his maternal grandmother, Kamala Nehru; ''Kamala'' (lotus dweller) is one of the names given to the goddess Lakshmi and ''Rajiv'' means lotus; the name was kept because lotus is used to worship the goddess.〔Agarwal, p.14〕 On 14 August 1946, Rajiv's younger brother Sanjay Gandhi was born in Delhi.〔Agarwal, p.15〕 In 1951, Rajiv and Sanjay were admitted to Shiv Niketan school, where the teachers said Rajiv was shy and introverte, and "greatly enjoyed painting and drawing".〔Chand p.34〕 At the age of six, he underwent surgery on his tonsils.〔Agarwal, p.16〕 He was admitted to the Doon School in 1954, where Sanjay joined him two years later.〔Agarwal, p.17〕 Rajiv was sent to London in 1961 to study A-levels. In 1962, he was offered a place at Trinity College, Cambridge, to study engineering. Rajiv stayed at Cambridge until 1965, but did not finish his degree.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140218/main6.htm )〕 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 was trained as a pilot. In 1970, he was employed as a pilot by Air India; unlike Sanjay, he did not exhibit any interest of joining politics.〔Agarwal, p.18〕 In 1968, after three years of courtship, he married Italian Edvige Antonia Albina Màino, who changed her name to Sonia Gandhi. Their first child, a son, Rahul Gandhi was born in 1970. In 1972, the couple had a daughter, Priyanka Gandhi, who married Robert Vadra.〔Khan, p.76〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rajiv Gandhi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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