THE RAJIV PARADOX

Indira's heir was a technophile who turned India towards the 21st century but made missteps on religion. His South Asia policy too was marred by tragic errors but still left a legacy

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How would it have turned out had an assassin not cut short his graph, and had Rajiv Gandhi returned to rule in 1991? That question joins the long list of history’s intriguing what-ifs.

As we have it, it was fated to remain a flawed apprenticeship in power. Within that, Rajiv Gandhi contained multitudes of contrary qualities. Many see the promise he unlocked in the vast karmic sloth that was India. For them, he was the arch outsider who came in and shook the system out of its inertia. The dynast who, ironically, deepened grassroots democracy with Panchayati Raj, and tended to the basics of life like potable water. And most of all, the fresh-eyed seer of the future. The technophile who, with the telecom mission and computerisation, turned India towards the 21st century.