Agartala, May 21 (TIWN): Alongwith nation, Congress Party in Tripura observed 27th Death Anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Senior Congress leaders Gopal Roy and others offered floral tribute to India's former Prime Minister.

Rajiv Gandhi's last public meeting was on 21 May 1991, at Sriperumbudur, a village approximately 40 km (25 mi) from Madras, where he was assassinated while campaigning for the Sriperumbudur Lok Sabha Congress candidate. At 10:10 pm, a woman later identified as Thenmozhi Rajaratnam, approached Gandhi in public and greeted him. She then bent down to touch his feet and detonated a belt laden with 700 g (1.5 lb) of RDX explosives tucked under her dress.

The explosion killed Gandhi, Rajaratnam, and at least 25 other people. The assassination was captured by a 21-year-old local photographer, whose camera and film were found at the site. The cameraman, named Haribabu, died in the blast but the camera remained intact.[81] Gandhi's mutilated body was airlifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi for post-mortem, reconstruction and embalming.

A state funeral was held for Gandhi on 24 May 1991; it was telecast live and was attended by dignitaries from over 60 countries. He was cremated at Veer Bhumi, on the banks of the river Yamuna near the shrines of his mother (Indira Gandhi), brother (Sanjay Gandhi), and grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru.

In a sharp contrast, Tripura Congress's so called 'Working President' Pradyot Manikya as usual avoiding all party responsilities and programmes - rather Congress Party now led by Birjit Sinha, Gopal Roy etc in every political activity.