On the flip side, Rajiv proved a poor judge of the company he kept. His minister VP Singh deserted his on the Bofors kickback issue. A whole lot of other colleagues in his cabinet abandoned him before the 1989 elections. He was also impatient for peace, signing accords in rapid succession with the respective secessionist groups of Mizoram, Assam and Punjab, and going on to persuade Sri Lanka to allow the deployment of Indian Peace Keeping Force in its territory. India and Rajiv too had to pay a heavy price for this last accord. In Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, the country lost a great leader. No doubt he made some mistakes, but he also had the uncanny ability to learn from them. What would have been the fate of the nation if Rajiv Gandhi were living? It is for the reader to draw this conclusion.