Opinion November 13, 1984, Forty Years Ago: Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s first AIR and Doordarshan address

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on November 13, 1984.

November 13, 2024 10:06 AM IST First published on: Nov 13, 2024 at 03:00 AM IST

PM Gandhi’s Promise

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi promised to give the nation a clean and efficient administration which would afford no quarter “to the corrupt, lazy and the inefficient” and ensure full protection from outside pressures to those who worked with integrity and dedication. Spelling out his priorities in his first major policy statement to the nation over All India Radio and Doordarshan, he said the administrative system needed to be more “goal-oriented”.

Police Role In Riots

Suryakant S Jog, who took over as Police Commissioner recently, has ordered an inquiry into the involvement of Delhi Police in the bloody riots following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Jog told newsmen that action would be taken against officers as and when failures were established. The inquiry would also look into the role of former Police Commissioner Subhash Tandon.

New Cong President

Prime Minster Rajiv Gandhi, who was unanimously elected president of the party has formed a new Congress (I) Working Committee and a Central Parliamentary Board with some new faces. A rather significant appointment is that of Arun Nehru, a close confidant of PM Gandhi. Soon after his election, he also formed a six-member manifesto drafting committee, which found new entrants who had fallen from grace.

Calm In UP

Normalcy has been restored in Uttar Pradesh. The eruption of violence was sporadic on October 31 when the identity of the assassins became known. The initial grief and shock turned into a wave of anger against members of the Sikh community. The total casualties reported in UP were 174, including 30 bodies which were recovered from trains.