HT This Day: November 12, 1984— New PM assumes charge today
Rajiv Gandhi will be the sixth person to assume the office of PM. Among his predecessors were his maternal grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, and his mother, Mrs Indira Gandhi
New Delhi: With the 12-day national mourning ending tonight, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi will formally assume charge of the office at the South Block tomorrow morning.
Mr Gandhi had been dealing with the files and other routine work from home since he was sworn in as the Prime Minister on the evening of October 31.
He will be the sixth person to assume the office of Prime Minister. Among his predecessors were his maternal grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, and his mother, Mrs Indira Gandhi.
Forty-year-old, the country’s youngest Prime Minister will be escorted to the wood-panelled office by top officials of the Prime Minister’s office, it is understood.
The mourning rituals ended today with Mr Gandhi fulfilling his mother’s wish to sprinkle her ashes over the Himalayas.
PTI adds:
Meanwhile, a cross-section of the people have already come to a tentative judgement “the new PM has begun well.”
When Mr Rajiv Gandhi was sworn within hours of his mother’s assassination millions in India and abroad asked nervously: “Can the inexperienced ex-pilot face up to the challenges ahead? Can he guide the destiny of this vast nation of 700 million people?”
A team of UNI reporters tried to find the answers.
A senior diplomat, who has been on the Indian scene for some years, confessed in an informal chat that he, too, had asked the same nervous questions.
The diplomat, who asked not to be identified, said that he had already got the answer: “The young man has made a confident beginning”.
The diplomat pointed to a series of developments in the action-packed first 12 days. These were days of agony for the nation, more so for Mr Rajiv Gandhi.
“His poise in the face of stark tragedy, his calm reaction to an unprecedented succession of events, his firm, clear-headed decisions, these have impressed us.” (Delhi’s diplomatic community).
The diplomat said: “Mr Gandhi has, so soon after the deep personal tragedy, made a congenial start with warring opposition parties. The business community has reacted favourably to his appointment to the highest office in the country in the hope that he would follow pragmatic policies. The youth obviously feel that they have come into their own, with a 40-year-old Prime Minister. Women seem to like him for being the only son of the late Mrs Indira Gandhi.”
The media, too, in India and in many foreign countries has commented approvingly on the young Prime Minister.
Dalit Mazdoor Kisan Party President Charan Singh said Mr Rajiv Gandhi does not have administrative experience, and is not well versed with problems of rural India. He added: “I will restrain myself from making any personal comments about him.”