Rajiv Gandhi and the 'baba log' years

Rajiv's political life was bookended and propelled by terrible tragedies

In a famous phrase the late editor and columnist Romesh Thapar witheringly termed Rajiv Gandhi and his team as the “Baba Log government”. This was 1986; Rajiv was into his second year as prime minister, having become the youngest PM, at 40, with a majority of more than 400 seats after his mother’s assassination in October 1984. Even Narendra Modi hasn’t bettered that score nor — it might be wagered — could anyone else easily. Rajiv’s 75th birthday last week was observed with customary tributes by his family and party loyalists, and unuttered criticisms by anti-Congress politicians who abhor —