On April 24, 1991 Rajiv filed his nomination papers from Amethi for the fourth time. A huge crowd was there to cheer when Rajiv Gandhi landed there with his wife Sonia Gandhi. A special plane had carried them. From airport the couple had to travel to the office of the collector to file papers which was about 3 kms away. On both sides of the entire route crowds thronged with garlands in hands or showering flower petals on Rajiv and Sonia. Slogans hailing Rajiv Gandhi ranted in the air.
On May 1, Rajiv started his campaign with a speech at a public meeting near Ayodhya with a promise of proverbial ‘Ram Rajya’, establishment of an ideal state where prosperity and peace would bless everyone’s life, personal dignity and rule of law will rein supreme.
Then Rajiv Gandhi campaigned in Rajasthan drawing mammoth crowds. In between he spoke at villlages on his way.
Next day, he was in Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar via Agra. In next couple of days he covered 400 kms visiting Allahabad, Phulpur and upto Gorakhpur. On 5th May, he was in north Bihar speaking at public meetings in Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga areas. He reached Kolkata covering north and south Bengal. He stormed through south Bihar on 7th May onwards to be in New Delhi on the May 10, 1991.
There was no stopping Rajiv Gandhi as the electon air smelled of another massive victory. He flew to Karnataka on the very next day. On the 13th he was in Warangal, Andhra Pradesh and then in Aligarh, U.P. the same day by air. May 14 saw Rajiv Gandhi campaigning in Ambala, Dharamshala and Chandigarh. He was in Ahmedabad on 15th May and the very next day in his constituency Amethi. Like a political phantom he was on the move to ensure victory for Congress and the future of India.
Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi held the home fort providing solid background emotional and moral support. Rajiv could depend on her. Rajiv issued his message to the countrymen on May 18 which unfortunately proved his last but the content was significant forever. He said, “The parochial and narrow-minded parties can never realise the India of our dreams. Their aim is only to divide country on the lines of religion, caste, language and region . They want to grab power only for their vested interests.
For the 18 months I was not in power and it pained me to see that people have lost faith in politicians. The aspirations and hopes the Congress had kindled have been ruined by elements that encourage communal hatred and casteism. The cynical politicians have upset the social structure by fomenting casteism.
There is still time you can save the country from divisive forces. To rekindle those hopes and aspirations, to set up such system where discipline does not let the emotions of people crushed, and to establish a progressive arrangement in which the people and the government work as a team, a correct choice is required. There should be a revolutionary change in the living standards of the people and for that a capable government and administrative system is needed. We all have to work together towards that end. Only the Congress party can provide such leadership.”
On May 20, Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi cast their votes at Nirman Bhavan polling booth at New Delhi. Then, Rajiv left for Bhubaneshwar where next day he addressed several election rallies before flying to Vishakhapatnam. From there he was scheduled to go to Chennai and then to Sri Perumbudur.
In that electioneering month Rajiv Gandhi had already addressed more that 170 public meetings and rallies besides small gatherings. A newspaper reported, ‘By campaigning almost all over the country Rajiv Gandhi has brought the Congress party to the brink of a massive victory. The remarkable thing about his electioneering has been that he refrained from offensive and cheap incitable language. His speeches were dignified, civil and impressive. Many Congress candidates who were on weak ground gained a firm footing due to his campaign.’
On May 21 Rajiv Gandhi reached Chennai airport at 8.30 p.m. after electioneering in Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu Congress president, Congress candidates and workers received him. Ten minutes later he talked to the press reporters. At 9 p.m. he left airport to campaign for the Congress candidates from North Chennai for Lok Sabha and assembly seats. He addressed a public meeting.
At 10.10 p.m. Rajiv Gandhi reached Sri Perumbudur, a town 40 kms off Chennai. A large crowd waited for him there. The people raised slogans hailing Rajiv when he arrived on the scene.
Flowers were being showered on him and he was being garlanded. The crowd appeared to be jostling to get closer to the popular leader. Rajiv Gandhi walked briskly towards the podium. 10-15 steps away from the stage a group of women pushed with flower bouquets to get to him. The security men barred their move. Rajiv waived his hand to the security personnel saying ‘Be relaxed’. He wanted those women allowed to approach him. The security men obeyed.
At that very moment a children group was singing a dedication song on the stage to the following effect:
‘The life of Rajiv is our life,
If our life is not for the son of Indira Gandhi,
It better belong to no one…’
A woman moved forward and garlanded Rajiv Gandhi and then she bent down to touch his feet. And suddenly…
There was a flash of blinding light and a big explosion… and that explosion blew away the brightest star of the Indian politics.
A young relentless battler of national politics was there amongst his people moments ago but now he did not exist in a flash.
On the scene of tragedy there were heaps dead bodies, lumps of torn flesh, dismembered human body parts and pools of bood all around. Besides Rajiv Gandhi the suicide bomber had claimed 15 more lives.
Within ten minutes the news of the tragic end of Rajiv Gandhi reached 10, Janpath. First it was said a bomb had exploded in Rajiv’s public meeting. The late PM’s secretary Vincent George, M.L. Fotedar and Satish Sharma later went to Gandhi family residence and told Priyanka about the demise of her father.
At 11.35 p.m. Priyanka broke the tragic news to Sonia Gandhi. Shortly later Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka and R.K. Dhawan left for Chennai in an air force plane. Next day, the dead body of Rajiv Gandhi was brought to Delhi. The plane landed at Palam at 8.30 p.m.
Farewell to the departed-soul
On 20th May, Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi had cast their votes and then Rajiv had set out on his election campaign. Now as Rajiv was dead, Sonia Gandhi fondly remembered small details of those last meetings between the two. In her reminisces Sonia Gandhi wrote—”On that day at noon he (Rajiv) came home for a brief time. It felt very nice. It was a chance for me to be with him for a few more minutes. He talked with Rahul on telephone. He said endearing things to him and gave good wishes for high marks in examination.
While leaving he promised me he would be back with me after only a couple of days. We bid good bye to each other and he departed. I kept peeping at him from the cover of curtains until he was out of my sight. My eyes kept following him. Little did I realise that he was going away from me forever.”
When the bomber exploded herself at Sri Perumbudur, the New York Times reporter Barbera Crosset was at that meeting venue. She had travelled with Rajiv from Chennai to Punamallai and then on to Sri Perumbudur.
On the way Barbera asked Rajiv, “Are you afraid that during election campaign you can be targeted by some terror attack?”
Rajiv Gandhi said in that last interview, “What can I do? When I was not prime minister I used to do electioneering in the same way. Now that again I am no prime minister, so I do electioneering in the same old way.”
Commenting on the ‘Hard and fast work’ in campaign Rajiv Gandhi spoke,’ From May 1, I am travelling around 23½ hours a day. Naturally my feet are very swollen, with a lot of blood collected in them. My hands ache. Here (Tamil Nadu) and in Kerala people lovingly caress my cheek. Sometimes in Muslim areas they kiss me once, twice and even thrice. Embracing out of affection is a common thing.”
Barbera queried, “In this 40° celcius heat or more what do you do to keep up your energy level? Any special diet?”
Rajiv laughed merrily saying, “Most of times I don’t eat anything.”
Barbera saw some water bottles and a thermos flask with tea or coffee in the car Rajiv was travelling in. About his priorities Rajiv revealed, “We need to do four things. First priority is education for women and girls. Second is a decent job to everyone. Third is good healthcare for women and children. And the last one is all round economic progress.”
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