Overview

• Congress leaders gathered at Veer Bhumi in New Delhi, with Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K. C. Venugopal leading floral tributes alongside family members Robert and Raihan Vadra.
• Rahul Gandhi and P. Chidambaram also paid respects, including a tribute in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan, according to party and media posts.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a message on X offering tributes to the former prime minister.
• The Congress labeled the occasion Sadbhavana Diwas through official posts, as state offices held observances such as Ajit Pawar’s pledge ceremony at Mumbai’s Mantralaya.
• Party messaging revisited Rajiv Gandhi’s legacy, citing the telecom and IT push, lowering the voting age to 18 and Panchayati Raj reforms, while Jairam Ramesh linked his US outreach to Texas Instruments’ Bengaluru R&D centre and noted the 1988 China visit.