Rajiv Ratna Gandhi

Rajiv Ratna Gandhi (Kashmiri/Hindi: राजीव गांधी; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was the sixth Prime Minister of India, serving from October 1984 to December 1989.

Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira and Feroze Gandhi. He was educated at Cambridge, where he met Italian-born Sonia Maino, whom he later married. After Cambridge, he became a professional pilot for Indian Airlines. He remained aloof from politics despite his family's political prominence. It was only following the death of his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi in 1980 that Rajiv entered politics. Following the assassination of his mother in 1984 after Operation Blue Star, Indian National Congress party leaders nominated him to be Prime Minister.