Rahul pays floral tribute to Rajiv Gandhi on 30th death anniversary; Denied due legacy, says Kharge

On the 30th anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, Congress leaders paid tribute to the former Prime Minister. Mallikarjun Kharge recalls the Prime Minister and blames party infighting and outside targets on late PM.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday paid tributes to former Prime Minister and his father Rajiv Gandhi here on his 30th death anniversary.

Rahul Gandhi visited Veer Bhumi and paid floral tributes to his father."Truth, Compassion, Progress," he later wrote on Twitter with the hashtag #RememberingRajivGandhi.He also attached a photograph of his father.

Priyanka Gandhi also paid tributes to her father and in a tweet wrote, "There is no greater strength than love, no greater courage than kindness, no greater power than compassion and no greater teacher than humility. #RememberingRajivGandhi" She attached a photograph of her father speaking to the patients in a hospital.

Priyanka Gandhi's husband Robert Vadra also paid tributes to Rajiv Gandhiji and said, "Remembering Rajiv Gandhiji on his Death Anniversary, May 21, 1991. A family man, a visionary leaderï¿½If he was alive, this country would have been economically stronger, more secular and every citizen would've been medically healthier. We miss him. RIP."He also attached the link to Rajiv Gandhi's speech at the United Nations.

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, in Tamil Nadu. The former Prime Minister was killed by an LTTE suicide bomber on May 21, 1991 night at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.

Indian Congress party president Rahul Gandhi (L) with his sister Priyanka Gandhi pay tribute to their late father

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday highlighted the work of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 30th death anniversary and also attacked the government for bulldozing the democratic set-up.

"False allegations were made throughout the years and even today bogus investigations are being continued after 30 years to deny him his legacy," Kharge said. The Congress leader alleged that Rajiv was targeted from both inside and outside.

"There was a concerted attempt to weaken his efforts to develop India from within his own government and party. Security was withdrawn from him by the government which led to his assassination."

Kharge said that the circumstances are totally different today because there are no principles at the highest level and there is a government with much less mandate than Rajiv Gandhi that pushes Bills that are against farmers and workers without listening to the genuine concerns raised by the Opposition because of the majority.

He alleged that the government is misusing the anti-defection law to bring down democratically elected governments in states where the Opposition is in power. There is a government that believes in keeping all powers to itself and refuses to even share tax revenues with state governments. So much of their talk of "cooperative federalism".

Kharge said that the late PM will always be remembered as the person who took the first step to lead India to the 21st century of Industrialisation and Information Technology and ensured Maruti became a successful PSU within two years by choosing the right technocrats and also strengthened the Panchayati raj system as well as reducing the age of voting.

The Congress leader said that Rajiv Gandhi laid the foundation for the economic reforms and signed historical Accords of Punjab, Assam and Mizoram.