End of a dynasty

Rajiv Gandhis death has shocked the world and marks the end of the Nehru dynasty that had led India for all but five years since independence from Britain.After his brother Sanjay was killed in an air crash in 1980, he gave up his job as an airline pilot and was elected to Sanjays parliamentary seat.He became prime minister after his mother, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards in 1984.Often seen as a reluctant leader, he and his Congress Party won a record majority later that year.

He encouraged foreign investment, a freer economy and rejuvenated his own party, ridding it of his mothers unelected cronies.After he lost the election in 1989, Rajiv Gandhi resigned.This time, the Congress Party was expected to win the largest number of parliamentary seats but not overall control against the Hindu BJP Party and the Janata Dal, now split into two parties.The campaign has been marred by sectarian violence between Hindus and Muslims in what has proved to be the most violent election in Indian history. Two hundred people have already been killed.