On the morning of 31 October 1984 , his mother was assassinated by one of her bodyguards ; later that day , Gandhi was appointed Prime Minister . His leadership was tested over the next few days as organised mobs rioted against the Sikh community , resulting in riots in Delhi . That December , Congress party won the largest Lok Sabha majority to date , 411 seats out of 542 . Rajiv Gandhi 's period in office was mired in controversies ; perhaps the greatest crises were the Bhopal disaster and the Shah Bano case . In 1988 he reversed the coup in Maldives , antagonising militant Tamil groups such as PLOTE , intervening and 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
Bhopal disaster
Bhopal disaster
Rajiv Gandhi