The story
On the night of May 21, 1991, the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was campaigning for Congress in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, in a general election. A woman approached, bent as if to touch his feet in respect, and detonated an explosive belt. Rajiv Gandhi, aged 46, and about 14 others were killed. The attacker was identified as a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and an Indian investigation traced the plot to the group's leadership.
Rajiv Gandhi, who had become prime minister at 40 after his mother Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984, had sent the Indian Peace Keeping Force to Sri Lanka in 1987 under the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. The force ended up fighting the Tigers and was withdrawn in 1990. The LTTE feared that he would send it back if he returned to power. India banned the LTTE after the killing. The elections were rescheduled, and Congress, led afterward by P. V. Narasimha Rao, formed a government. Rao's government began the economic reforms of 1991 that opened India's economy. The Gandhi family's leadership of Congress passed first to Rajiv's widow, Sonia Gandhi, and later to their children.
Why it mattered
- Congress formed the government under P. V. Narasimha Rao, who introduced India's 1991 economic liberalisation.
- India turned against the LTTE, which lost support in Tamil Nadu and was banned.
- The killing led to a long investigation and trial, and several convicts were only freed by the Supreme Court decades later.
- India did not send troops to Sri Lanka again, and it kept the LTTE banned.
Sources
- Rajiv Gandhi Britannica
- How Nalini and others were arrested Outlook India
- P.V. Narasimha Rao Britannica
Drafted by AI (Claude) from the sources above and checked against them by AI; no historian has reviewed this page. Spot a mistake? Suggest a correction. How pages are made
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