Modi pays tribute to former PM Rajiv Gandhi on 28th death anniversary

New Delhi, May 21: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi paid tribute to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 28th death anniversary this morning at his memorial, Veer Bhumi, in Delhi. Besides the Gandhi family, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former president Pranab Mukherjee, among other senior party leaders, were also present at Veer Bhumi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Rajiv Gandhi on Twitter. "Tributes to former PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi on his death anniversary," he tweeted.

This comes days after Modi, in a bitterly fought election campaign, had targeted Congress chief Rahul Gandhi during a rally in Uttar Pradesh, saying, "Your father (Rajiv Gandhi) was termed Mr Clean by his courtiers, but his life ended as 'bhrashtachari' no 1 (corrupt number 1). Modi also accused the Gandhi family of using warship INS Viraat as its "personal taxi" when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister. Former Navy personnel denied the claim.

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991 by a woman operative of the separatist Lankan Tamil outfit LTTE, who greeted him at a rally in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur town with a bomb strapped to her chest.