Rahul pays tribute to Rajiv Gandhi on his birth anniversary, says 'Your dreams for India are my own'

New Delhi : The Congress party on Tuesday paid tributes to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 80th birth anniversary, celebrating his contribution to India's political and technological landscape.

Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh were present on the occasion.

Rahul Gandhi shared on X a photo from Veer Bhumi, paying floral tribute to his father, and said: "A compassionate personality, an epitome of camaraderie and goodwill... Papa, your teachings are my inspiration, and your dreams for India are my own - I will fulfill them, taking your memories with me."

Mallikarjun Kharge posted a video of Rajiv Gandhi and said: "Today, India is celebrating Sadbhavana Diwas. Former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, was a great son of India. He ignited a ray of hope in crores of Indians and with his unprecedented contribution, he brought India into the 21st century."

"His many notable initiatives like lowering of voting age to 18 years, strengthening of Panchayati Raj, telecom and IT revolution, computerisation programmes, continuing peace accords, women empowerment, universal immunisation programme and new education policy with emphasis on inclusive education brought about transformational changes in the country. We pay heartfelt tribute to Bharat Ratna, Rajiv Gandhi ji on his birth anniversary," he added.

Jairam Ramesh also celebrated Rajiv Gandhi's contribution to India's political and technological landscape.

"Today is Rajiv Gandhi@80. His was a short but very consequential political life. The March 1985 Budget in which he played a key role heralded a new approach to economic policy. The manifesto for the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, on which he spent long hours a few weeks before his tragic assassination, provided the foundations for the Rao-Manmohan Singh reforms of June-July 1991," he wrote in a post on X.

"Peace accords in troubled regions of the country like Assam, Punjab, Mizoram, and Tripura were made possible by his statesmanship that put national interest over the immediate interests of his party. He had a vision for societal applications of science and technology that were reflected in the impactful technology missions in drinking water supply, immunisation, literacy, oilseeds production, and telecom and dairy development," he added.

"In 1985, 165,000 villages had been identified as not having easy access to any potable water source. By 1989, 162,000 villages of these villages had been provided with at least one safe source of drinking water. Institutions that are now doing the country proud, like C-DAC, were established in the late 1980s. Financial institutions like the National Housing Bank and the Small Industries Development Bank of India came into being," he wrote in his post.

"The New Education Policy of 1986, anchored in progressive values, bore his personal imprint. Today’s Navodaya Vidyalayas emerged from this initiative. The voting age was reduced to 18 years and Swami Vivekananda’s birthday was declared as National Youth Day. Article 243 of our Constitution is a tribute to his fierce commitment to empowering elected panchayats and nagarpalikas. Today, we have over 3 million elected representatives in these institutions of self-government, of whom over 40 per cent are women. We recall not just a Prime Minister today but also a very fine and caring human being who bore no malice, showed no vindictiveness, sought no revenge, indulged in no bombast and self-glory, and exhibited no qualities of self-delusion," Jairam Ramesh concluded.