PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
Tributes were paid by the Congress leaders to the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 35th death anniversary on Thursday.
Addressing a programme organised at the Rajiv Bhawan, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Ganesh Godiyal said that Rajiv Gandhi was the father of information revolution in India and that he had sacrificed everything for the unity and integrity of the country. He said that Gandhi had taken the initiative of amending the Constitution to empower the Panchayats and giving voting rights to the youth.
“Rajiv Gandhi had also laid the foundation of making India an economic superpower and a leading country in the information revolution. Due to his efforts, the countries of the world are seeing India becoming a superpower today,’’ he said.
The leader of the opposition in Vidhan Sabha, Yashpal Arya, said that the Congress party has always emphasized on strengthening and empowering Panchayats. He said it was during the late Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as PM that the Panchayats were empowered through the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution.
The chairperson of the election management committee, Harak Singh Rawat said Rajiv Gandhi not only sparked a new revolution in the field of information but his work towards strengthening and autonomy of Panchayats proved to be a milestone. He said that by granting voting rights to 18-year-olds, Gandhi initiated the initiative to connect them with the mainstream of the country and strengthen India’s democracy.
State general secretary Rajendra Singh Bhandari, Rajendra Shah, media chairman Rajiv Mehershi, Mahanagar president Jaswinder Singh Gogi and others also paid tributes to Gandhi.
