Rajiv Gandhi was chosen by the Congress party as the PM the very
                next day after Indira died. In the ensuing elections, he returned the
                Congress to power with the most number of seats ever. Rajiv came
                to politics as a charismatic leader, who seemed to have the vision
                and the ability to take the country into the 21st Century. He
                introduced the country to computers and gave it an advanced
                telecommunication system. He was looked upon as a "clean"
                politician. But as he began the trend to appoint his friends and
                cronies to political posts, this image began to fade, as did the
                nation's hopes of making a giant leap into the 21st Century under
                him. He became embroiled in several controversies, though several
                observers point out that these were more the makings of those who
                surrounded him. Among these controversies were the Shah Bano
                case and the unlocking of the Babri Masjid, which sent the country
                into the throes of communal tension and the illegal kickbacks case in
                the HDW submarines deal and the Bofors howitzer deal. Rajiv
                himself has been accused of receiving bribes in the Bofors deal.
                The Punjab problem was also at its peak during his tenure. India had
                gotten into a tangle over sending peace-keeping forces to strife-torn
                Sri Lanka. The economy, that Rajiv had begun to liberalise, was also
                not doing very well. By the end of his term, Rajiv was completely
                divested of his "clean" image, and the final blow came after his
                Finance Minister, V P Singh, quit the party in protest. In the following
                general elections, the Congress under lost its predominant position
                in Parliament. Rajiv, like his mother, also met a violent death,
                assassinated by a Sri Lankan militant.

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