Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944. As Rajiv had no interest in politics in the beginning, he joined Air India in 1970 as a pilot. But, the sudden death of his brother Sanjay Gandhi in 1980 forced him to enter politics.
Rajiv’s political career took a dramatic turn and he became the youngest Prime Minister of India at the age of 40. He was sworn-in on October 31, 1984, the same day his mother was assassinated by her own bodyguards. After his mother’s death, Rajiv Gandhi struck a chord with the masses and made Congress victorious in Lok Sabha elections with record 411 seats of the 542. But the nation lost its charismatic leader when he was assassinated on May 21, 1991. Indian government awarded him Bharat Ratna in 1991 posthumously.
Today marks the 76th birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, here’s a look at eight inspirational quotes by him:
1. “Better a brain drain than a brain in the drain.”
2. “A responsive administration is tested most at the point of interface between the administration and the people.”
3. “India missed the Industrial Revolution; it cannot afford to miss the Computer Revolution.”
4. “The world is changing much too fast for us to have a moribund system which is not flexible, which cannot evolve and develop with changes in our society, in our country, as they come about in the world.”
5. “Women are the social conscience of a country. They hold our societies together.”
6. “India is an Old country but a young nation…I am young and I too have a dream, I dream of India Strong, Independent, Self-Reliant and in the front rank of the nations of the world, in the service of mankind.”
7. “Education must be a great equaliser in our society. It must be the tool to level the differences that our various social systems have created over the past thousands of years.”
8. “Our task today is to bring India to the threshold of the twenty-first century, free of burden of poverty, legacy of our colonial past, and capable of meeting the rising aspirations of our people.”
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