Former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi was born on 20 August 1944. His younger brother’s name was Sanjay Gandhi. Sanjay Gandhi died in an air crash. Sanjay Gandhi’s wife’s name is Maneka Gandhi and his son’s name is Varun Gandhi.
Rajiv Gandhi did his schooling from Doon School. Bollywood veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan also studied in this school. Amitabh Bachchan’s father Harivansh Rai Bachchan and former Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had a mutual friendship. Amitabh Bachchan’s mother’s name is Teji Bachchan.
After studying from Doon School, Rajiv Gandhi took admission in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College, London. After this he studied to become a pilot. Rajiv Gandhi returned to India after completing his studies from Imperial College and took pilot training at Delhi’s Flying Club. He started his career with Air India in 1970.
Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia met for the first time in 1965. Sonia was born on 9 December 1946 in Luciana village of Italy. Sonia’s family was Roman Catholic Christian. In 1964, Sonia had gone to Cambridge, UK to study English and Rajiv Gandhi was studying at the College of Trinity, Cambridge University. During that time both of them met.
Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi were married on February 25, 1968. Before this marriage, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was not ready. Both were married at the house of Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan, a friend of Indira Gandhi’s father Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and shadow poet of India. Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan is the father of Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan’s father Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan had done the Kanyadaan of Sonia Gandhi.
Rajiv-Sonia had already decided before marriage that they would not enter politics. However, his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi had a lot of influence in the Congress, or rather, he used to speak in the Congress. In the early days, Rajiv Gandhi became a professional pilot and Sonia became a homemaker.
Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi have two children. His elder child’s name is Rahul Gandhi and his daughter’s name is Priyanka. Priyanka was married to a boy from the Vadra family, hence she is also called Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Sonia, who studied in England, came to India at the age of 21 before marrying Rajiv Gandhi. Indira Gandhi did not know anything about the relationship between Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi earlier. Indira Gandhi was told about their relationship by her friend and Amitabh Bachchan’s mother Teji Bachchan. After Sonia came to India for the first time in 1968, arrangements were made for her stay at Amitabh Bachchan’s house in Delhi.
In an interview given to India Today owner Arun Puri, Sonia Gandhi had said that Rajiv and I wanted to lead a simple life. Rajiv was a pilot. We had two small children. Both of us were able to give maximum time to our family. Due to these personal interests, she did not want to let Rajiv enter politics. Rajeev also did not want to go. After Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984, I had a feeling that these people would kill my Rajiv too.
