1944- . Indian politician, prime minister
from 1984, following his mother Indira
Gandhi's assassination, to Nov 1989. As prime
minister, he faced growing discontent with
his party's elitism and lack of concern for
social issues. Rajiv Gandhi initially
displayed little interest in politics and
became an airline pilot. But after the death
in a plane crash of his brother Sanjay
(1946-80), he was elected to his brother's
Amethi parliamentary seat 1981. In the Dec
1984 parliamentary elections he won a record
majority. In 1985 he reached a temporary
settlement with the moderate Sikhs which
failed, however, to hold. His reputation was
tarnished by a scandal concerning alleged
kickbacks to senior officials from an arms
deal with the Swedish munitions firm Bofors
and, following his party's defeat in the
general election of Nov 1989, Gandhi was
forced to resign as premier.