then sending peacekeeping troops to Sri Lanka in 1987, leading to open conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In mid-1987, the Bofors scandal damaged his corruption-free image and resulted in a major defeat for his party in the 1989 election. Gandhi remained Congress President until the elections in 1991. While campaigning for the elections, he was assassinated by a suicide bomber from the LTTE. His widow Sonia became the president of the Congress party in 1998 and led the party to victory in the 2004 and 2009 parliamentary elections. His son Rahul Gandhi is a Member of Parliament and was the President of the Indian National Congress till 2019. In 1991, the Indian government posthumously awarded Gandhi the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award. At the India Leadership Conclave in 2009, the Revolutionary Leader of Modern India award was conferred posthumously on Gandhi. Early life and career Rajiv Gandhi was born in Bombay on 20 August 1944 to Indira and Feroze Gandhi. In 1951, Rajiv and Sanjay were admitted to Shiv Niketan school, where the teachers said Rajiv was shy and introverted, and "greatly enjoyed painting and drawing". He was admitted to the Welham Boys' School, Dehradun and Doon School, Dehradun in 1954, where Sanjay joined him two years later. Rajiv was sent to London in 1961 to study A-levels. Rajiv was also educated at the Ecole D'Humanité, an international boarding school in Switzerland. From 1962 to 1965 he studied engineering at Trinity College, Cambridge, but did not obtain a degree. In 1966 he began a course in mechanical engineering at Imperial College London, but did not complete it either. Gandhi really was not studious enough, as he went on to admit later. Gandhi was a friend of Amitabh Bachchan, he was familiar with Bachchan even before he became an actor or joined Hindi cinema industry. Rajiv, Sanjay and Bachchan use to spend time together when Bachchan was student in Delhi University and resident of New Delhi. In 1980s Bachchan joined politics to support his friend, Gandhi. Gandhi returned to India in 1966, the year his mother became prime minister. He went to Delhi and became a member of the Flying Club, where he was trained as a pilot. In 1970, he was employed as a pilot by Indian Airlines; unlike Sanjay, he did not exhibit any interest of joining politics. In 1968, after three years