Rajiv Gandhi was an ordinary pilot for Indian Airlines, content in his marriage to Sonia Gandhi and had no desire to enter the world of Indian politics. However, destiny had different plans for him. Following his mother’s assassination on October 31, 1984, he was officially appointed as the Prime Minister of India. Because he was unaware of the country’s realities, we observe that Rajiv did not meet the criteria of being a great Prime Minister. He lacked a close bond with the community, and his developmental policies were also quite ineffective. His classmates noted that his bookshelves featured titles focused on science and engineering rather than those on philosophy, politics, or history.
But his idea of governance surely included women empowerment. He was extremely sure of making India a country of the 21st century. His main goal was technological revolution in the country and he wanted to invite more and more women to the places which were considered to male domains. A contemporary thinker, assertive yet reserved, Mr. Gandhi felt comfortable in the realm of advanced technology. And, as he often stated, one of his primary goals, aside from maintaining India’s unity, was to advance it into the twenty-first century.
Despite being such a technological freak, his tenure was full of issues of Ram Mandir, Khalistan, Bharat Pak, Hindu-Muslim, which are similar to that of today’s. But he did not pay much attention to it as his idea of unity was to celebrate various religions, ethnicities, languages and cultures. For him such trivial matters did not need the attention of the state.
He knew the condition of women in marriages, despite any religion, so his government came up with the Family Courts Act, 1984. It was a way of fighting the patriarchal aspect of marriages. It helped them in getting speedy settlement of disputes within marriages, family wealth and other related matters. Even some changes were made in the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961. A new provision was added, where a woman, if she has been struggling with her in-laws related to Dowry, even if it has been seven years to the marriage. Earlier there was no concept of dowry in the muslim law, but somehow the evils of patriarchy entered their household as well.
One of the best known things for which Mr. Gandhi is known for laying down the seeds of women reservation in the panchayats and municipalities. This step of providing reservation to women in local bodies under the 73rd and 74th amendment of the constitution was a revolutionary step.
Rajiv Gandhi was a revolutionary leader, but unfortunately his tenure was less than a decade. His revolutionary ideas about technology were very well received, but issues faced in changing the social structure of society was something Rajiv tried but could not implement in a better manner.