(This is part three of a four-part 'May' series that revisits significant historical events or policies and how the lessons learned from them continue to be of relevance in present-day politics and society. Read part one here, part two here, and part four here.)
Mandal and Mandir politics were already creating unprecedented upheavals in India. The hitherto unassuming and mild-mannered LK Advani had emerged as the roaring mascot of Hindutva. Mulayam and Lalu Yadav were on their way to creating formidable caste-based citadels in their states. Amidst all this, Prince Charming Rajiv Gandhi was busy on the campaign trail travelling across India, trying to reclaim the Delhi throne he had lost in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections.
By 21 May 1991, more than half the phases of voting for the Lok Sabha elections were over. Speculation was rife: Can Rajiv Gandhi lead the Congress back to power the way Indira Gandhi had done? Has he learnt the right lessons from the Bofors and other mistakes?
For the Nehru-Gandhi family loyalists, all such hopes and dreams were blown to smithereens on 21 May when a suicide bomber of Sri Lanka-based terror outfit LTTE blew herself, Rajiv Gandhi, and many others apart during a late-night election rally at a place called Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.
Even critics of the First Family were moved by the poise, grace, and dignity with which Sonia, Rahul, and Priyanka Gandhi handled the last rites and other excruciating formalities. This was a double whammy for them since Indira Gandhi had been assassinated at her residence less than seven years prior to this tragedy.