Rajiv Gandhi: The Man with a Mission

Shampa Sen

What comes to our mind when we think of a politician? Probably an old man, barely able to walk without support, clad in white starched dhoti-kurta with a pan in his mouth, floating a pair of leather chappals. Think again as it could sound clichéd. Rajiv Gandhi the most enigmatic and the youngest Prime Minister of India was quite different from the other politicians. He was privileged to be born to the most renowned political family of India. As a true Gandhian he possessed all the good leadership qualities. His grandeur and killing looks, his sensitivity and vision made him a class apart. Rajiv, brought along with him a bag full of expectations. He was the ninth Prime Minister of the country and the third from the Gandhi family. He was replacing his mother, Indira Gandhi, undoubtly the greatest mass leader of independent India. Rajiv like his mother believed in working at the grassroots level. Unlike today`s politicians who do more of drawing room politics Rajiv made it a point to reach the masses. He would go to the rural areas and interact with the people. He had to his advantage the fact that he was Indira Gandhi`s son and that he was considered Mr Clean. Though his legacy is debatable, his intentions and sense of purpose are not. He inspired hope of a better tomorrow. While Indira was a socialist, Rajiv encouraged a freer economy. He improved bilateral relations with the United States and expanded economic and scientific cooperation. Rajiv Gandhi`s tenure saw both durable transformation along with some shortcomings and errors. It is believed that the bad deeds people do lives after them; the good is often interred with their bones. But let us leave it to history to decide on these errors. On his 16th death anniversary let us not give him a customary tribute. Going by today`s culture, appreciating Rajiv`s achievements should not look as a mere polite ritual. Despite the opponents trying to demean him the fact remains that Rajiv Gandhi was a leader with a vision. During the early phase of his tenure he took some very important steps. He has the credit of bringing Mizo National Front Chief Laldenga into the mainstream in Mizoram; getting Hiteshwar Saikia to resign so that Assam Accord could move forward; the short-lived Punjab Accord with Sant Longowal and not to forget the call for elections in Punjab in 1985 despite knowing that the Akalis would have a clean sweep. Rajiv Gandhi led Congress to its greatest victory in the Lok Sabha elections in 1984, winning about 80 percent of the seats. He became the Prime Minister at the age of 40. Rajiv identified himself with the youth of the country. He initiated in lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years. He wanted the youth of the country to have a more active participation in democracy. He believed that unless the youth were given more opportunities nothing much could be achieved. Rajiv was a young icon, thrust into politics without any anticipation and largely untutored. He was hardworking and devoted to his work. His initiatives were often met with hostility. But what made them successful was that his initiatives had a personal touch. He often took decisions on his instincts and wisdom despite political opposition. Rajiv took part in every step of the decision-making process. He gave personal inputs in major decisions taken by the government. The technology missions that meant long term gain for India were his creation. His missions always catered to the needs of the hour. Rajiv`s visions bore fruits in the times to come. He stressed the need for proper drinking water facilities, an issue that still remains important. He laid special emphasis to literacy and education. Operation Blackboard and the Navodaya Vidyalayas are his brainchild. He also has the credit of making Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan successful. He made a genuine attempt to clean the Ganga, but couldn`t get past the corrupt system. Rajiv was brutally honest to admit that about 16% of the real development benefits reached the poor. To improve this system he remodeled and empowered panchayats as the first tier of democracy. These panchayats were given the authority to take decisions and work for the community. Though his vision has not yielded fruitful results but the fact remains that around three million elected representatives across India, one million of whom are women is the result of his efforts. The winter of 1988 witnessed one of the most passionate efforts of Rajiv that gave Indian democracy a new meaning. At a time when he was attacked from all corners on the Bofors issue he was busy in his meetings with district magistrates. He conducted an extensive meeting with thousands of elected representatives from panchayats across the country in Talkatora stadium. This brought about a significant change in the mindset in the governance of the country. The present period is known as the Information Technology era. Big multinationals like Infosys, TCS, Wipro have changed the lives of many Indians. They have earned India not only billions of dollars but international respect as well. Today we can boast of Bangalore as a global IT hub. This could only be possible because of a decision taken by Rajiv Gandhi in 1985; to facilitate a Texas Instruments satellite earth-station for a software facility. Rajiv Gandhi can be called the father of telecom revolution. His efforts created MTNL in 1986 and the public call offices, better known as PCOs, helped spread telephones in the rural areas. The work that he did then laid the foundation for a telecom boom in 1990s. It was during Rajiv`s tenure that the groundwork for India`s economic reforms was laid. The 1985-86, 1986-87 budgets were the stepping stones to liberalization. He was responsible in cutting down key import duties and taxes on profits and began the process of deregulation. This led to an export boom and high growth rates. It was during this time that the debilitating License Raj was affirmed. Rajiv has immense credit to his name. He worked towards reducing red tapism in the governance and freeing administration from bureaucratic tangles. He used an Army campaign against the militants in Punjab. On the international arena he took some very important steps with good intensions but they backfired. Rajiv initiated peace between the Sri Lankan government and LTTE rebels. According to the accord signed in 1987, the LTTE would disarm to the Indian Peace Keeping Force that was sent to Sri Lanka. But things went wrong and open fighting broke out between LTTE and the Indian soldiers. Around thousand Indian soldiers lost their lives and Rajiv had to pull back the forces from Sri Lanka. This was his major diplomatic failure. The Bofors case along with these failures led him to lose the 1989 general elections. A coalition government was subsequently formed but could not last long. This led to the call for general elections in 1991. On the fateful day of May 21, 1991 Rajiv Gandhi was campaigning in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu when an LTTE suicide bomber Thenmuli Rajaratnam also known as Dhanu assassination him. There was a thunderstorm in Rajiv`s constituency Amethi, that day. Might be the loss was so much that nature too could not control itself. His death was the end to a visionary who had many things to offer to his motherland. But due to some fanatics he left us. It is a loss that cannot be compensated yet we all can pledge to keep up some of the good work that he did for the nation. Let us all keep faith in democracy the way he always wanted. This will be a befitting tribute to a true son of the motherland.