The nation today paid homage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed in a suicide bomb attack on this day 21 years ago.
The President, Ms Pratibha Patil, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the departed leader’s wife and Congress chief, Ms Sonia Gandhi, went to the late leader’s memorial ‘Vir Bhumi’ here and paid their respects.
Mr Rahul and Ms Priyanka also paid floral tributes at the memorial of their father, who was assassinated on May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu during a poll campaign.
The Vice-President, Mr Hamid Ansari, the Delhi Lt Governor, Mr Tejinder Khanna, the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr P.K. Bansal also paid homage to Gandhi. Ms Priyanka’s husband Mr Robert Vadra was present on the occasion.
School children waving national flags were also present at the memorial.
A speech by the late Prime Minister, during which he talked about preserving the dignity of institutions, was played at the programme.