Congress president Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Monday morning paid tribute to their father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on his birth anniversary. Rahul and Priyanka paid floral tributes to their father at Veer Bhumi in the national capital.



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Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ashok Gehlot also paid tributes to the ex-prime minister.





The Congress president later took to microblogging site Twitter to remember Rajiv Gandhi as "a kind, gentle and affectionate man". The Gandhi scion wrote that his father's "untimely death left a deep void" in his life.



He tweeted, "Rajiv Gandhi was a kind, gentle and affectionate man whose untimely death left a deep void in my life. I remember the times we had together and the many birthdays we were lucky to celebrate with him when he was alive. He is greatly missed, but his memory lives on."


Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took to Twitter to remember the former PM's "efforts towards the nation". He tweeted, "Tributes to our former Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji on his birth anniversary. We remember his efforts towards the nation."


To mark the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, the Congress party has planned several programmes in Amethi, which was earlier the constituency of the former prime minister and is currently represented by his son and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.


Yogendra Mishra, president of Amethi District Congress Committee, and Chandra Kant Dubey, representative of Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi, told news agency PTI that the party would organise a rural half-marathon, hold a presentation of folk song Alha, competitive events for school students and honour senior party leaders and others.


Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20 in 1944. He represented Amethi in parliament in 1981, 1984, 1989 and 1991.