Sriperumbudur (TN), Oct 10: President A P J Abdul Kalam today dedicated to the nation the memorial of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated by a human bomb here more than 12 years ago.
Congress president and wife of the late leader, Sonia Gandhi, her daughter, Priyanka, son Rahul, and son-in-law, Robert Wadhera, and Chief Ministers of various Congress-ruled states, besides hundreds of Congressmen were present at the solemn occasion.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, was conspicuous by her absence at the function, held amid tight security with over 2,000 policemen deployed for bandobust.


On reaching the site, both the President and Sonia Gandhi, went round the gigantic memorial, that has come up on 12.19 acres of land, and paid floral tributes to late Rajiv Gandhi. There were no speeches.

Those who participated in the function included Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna, Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony and Pondicherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy.

The memorial has been developed by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) at the cost of Rs 21.15 crore. The land was given free of cost by the Tamil Nadu government.
Bureau Report