Vote for BJP in urban local bodies" poll for "triple engine" govt in UP: Adityanath
UP: Man booked for attempting to rape 5-year-old girl
Congress to mark 100 days of Bharat Jodo Yatra with concert in Jaipur
BJYM, Hindu outfits put off planned protest march at AMU
Karachi battles gas crisis; residents face unannounced load shedding, 2-hr gas supply in a day
Elderly man in judicial custody dies during treatment in UP hospital
Himachal Pradesh skittle Haryana for 46, take 200-run lead on Day 1
Pak court grants protective bail to PM Shehbaz"s son Suleman in money laundering case
British Library celebrates India ties with exhibition on Hampi
Nine policemen suspended after suspect dies in police custody in UP
Gangster"s property attached in UP"s Pratapgarh district
Maoists torch construction company vehicles in Jharkhand’s Chatra district
Sino-India border situation "generally stable": China on Yangtse clash
Babar Azam not taking advice from seniors, claims Shahid Afridi
Qlite Global launches their exclusive Grand Experience Centre
"Disillusioned with central leadership": Sikkim BJP president says he has resigned
2001 attack anniversary: Ready to guard new Parliament if directed, say CRPF heroes
Class 2 student dies after scuffle with fellow students in UP
Three killed in accident in UP"s Lakhimpur KheriLakhimpur Kheri (UP), Dec 13 (PTI) Three motorcycle borne youths were killed and "
Abandoned girl child from Assam adopted by Spanish professor
BY DN Singh
It was a galactic congregation of some top politicians of the country on that day of May 20 when in 1991 Prime Minister Chandrasekhar, Murli Manohar Joshi and Rajiv Gandhi were in Bhubaneswar.
Obviously the big trio had come for election campaigns. Each of them addressed public rallies at three different locations. Each of them also had their stays at three different accommodations. The PM was in the governor house while the other two were in the State Guest house’s VIP building.
Then came the D day. On May 21 Rajiv Gandhi held a Press Conference. Gandhi was looking very energized and visibly happy. Incidentally this reporter was on that PC.
Gandhi talked on the Ayodhya issue and he referred to the state of affairs in Punjab. Both contentious topics and Gandhi exuded confidence saying that “ we are coming back to power and it is a matter of time and we will sort out both the issues”.
From Bhubaneswar he was scheduled to go to Visakhapatnam and left. After addressing a public rally in Andhra Pradesh, Rajiv Gandhi reached Chennai (then Madras).
Nation was stunned
After some time a phone call came from our head office informing us that Rajiv Gandhi has been assassinated there in a horrendous bomb explosion.
It sent me rushing to designated office in Bhubaneswar and being at the Telex machine to file the sequence from May 20 and May 21.
Rajiv Gandhi had seen his last morning Sun in Bhubaneswar only and after few hours he was no more.
While typing the story my memory ran back to 1984 when Mrs Indira Gandhi had in a public meeting few kms away from Bhubaneswar had some predictions/ or intuition of her. That was on October 30 when in the meeting she said, (mere ek, ek khoon ki katraa desh ka kam ayega) each drop of my blood will serve the nation.
The same day she was assassinated at her residence in Delhi.
Even her father Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1964 came to Bhubaneswar and after a few days on May 27 he died of a heart attack.
Coincidence or whatever all three of them had visited Bhubaneswar before their deaths.
Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.
Stay updated with all the Latest Bhubaneswar headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.
