Madhavrao Jivajirao Scindia (10 March 1945 – 30 September 2001)Template:Citation needed was an Indian politician and a minister in the union government of the Indian National Congress.
Scindia was the son of Jiwajirao Scindia, the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Gwalior during the British Raj. Upon the death of his father in 1961, and under terms agreed to during the political integration of India, Scindia succeeded to a privy purse, certain privileges, and the use of the title "Maharaja of Gwalior,"[1] which lasted until 1971, whereupon all were abolished by the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India.[2][3][4]
Early life
Scindia was born in royal maratha family, the last ruling Maharaja of Gwalior, Jivajirao Scindia. He underwent his schooling in Scindia School, Gwalior and thereafter went for higher studies in Winchester College and at New College, Oxford.[5]
On his return from the UK, Scindia followed the political tradition set by his mother Vijaya Raje Scindia by joining politics. He was elected to the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Indian parliament) in 1971 from Gwalior.[5]
Career
Electoral victories
A nine-term member of the Lok Sabha, Madhavrao Scindia never lost an election since 1971, when he won for the first time from Guna constituency at the age of 26. He contested the election on the ticket of Jan Sangh, a party that his family had long patronised. In the 1977 election after the emergency was lifted, he contested from Guna constituency as an Independent candidate and still won the seat a second time in spite of the wave in favour of the Janata Party (Bhartiya Lok Dal-BLD). In the 1980 election, he switched allegiance to Indian National Congress and won from Guna a third time. But in 1984, he was nominated as the Congress candidate from Gwalior in a last-minute manoeuvre to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party's Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and won by a massive margin. After that Scindia contested from either Gwalior or Guna and won on each occasion.
Ministerial appointments
The 1984 election brought Scindia his first experience as a Minister. He made his mark as an excellent administrator during his stint as Railways Minister (22 October 1986 – 1 December 1989)[6] in the Rajiv Gandhi Ministry.
Prime Ministers P. V. Narasimha Rao made him Minister for Civil Aviation. He faced a turbulent period of agitation by the staff of the domestic carrier, Indian Airlines, and as part of a strategy of disciplining the workforce, he leased a number of aircraft from Russia. Early in 1992 one of these aircraft crashed, though without any loss of life, and Scindia promptly submitted his resignation. Although not known to be too finicky about such notions as ministerial accountability, the prime minister accepted his resignation. Scindia was later reinducted into the Cabinet in 1995 as Minister for Human Resource Development. Scindia is also credited with setting up the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management (IIITM) at Gwalior as an institution of repute, which got renamed after Atal Bihari Vajpayee as ABV-IIITM.
Rebellion and return
In 1996, he along with Arjun Singh and other Congress dissidents had the opportunity to be part of the United Front (U.F.) government at the Centre. Although his Madhya Pradesh Vikas Congress was part of the U.F., Scindia himself opted to stay out of the Cabinet. He was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India from 1990 to 1993.
Death
Madhavrao Scindia died at the age of 56, in a plane crash in Motta village, which is on the outskirts of Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh, on 30 September 2001. The plane caught fire when it was above Bhainsrauli village.[7]Being viewed as a future prime ministerial candidate before the 1999 Lok Sabha elections in the aftermath of the controversy over Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, was on his way to address a rally in Kanpur.[8]
All eight people on board the private plane (Beechcraft King Air C90) died in the crash. This included his personal secretary Rupinder Singh, journalists Sanjeev Sinha (The Indian Express), Anju Sharma (The Hindustan Times), Gopal Bisht, Ranjan Jha (Aaj Tak), pilot Ray Gautam and co-pilot Ritu Malik. The bodies were charred beyond recognition and taken by road to Agra, from where a special IAF aircraft, sent by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, brought the remains to Delhi. The remains of Madhavrao Scindia were identified by his family, with the goddess Durga locket that he always used to wear.[9]
The autopsies were conducted and other legal formalities completed at AIIMS New Delhi by Professor T D Dogra.[10] His son Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia was symbolically appointed as the head of the family.[11]
Styles
- 1945-1961- His Highness Yuvaraja Maharaj Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Bahadur.Template:Citation needed
- 1961-1971- His Highness Ali Jah, Umdat ul-Umara, Hisam us-Sultanat, Mukhtar ul-Mulk, Azim ul-Iqtidar, Rafi-us-Shan, Wala Shikoh, Muhtasham-i-Dauran, Maharajadhiraj Maharaja Shrimant Madhav Rao III Scindia Bahadur, Shrinath, Mansur-i-Zaman, Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior.Template:Citation needed
Ancestry
Template:S-start Template:S-hou Template:S-bef Template:S-tul Template:S-aft Template:End
Notes
References
- ↑ The Indian princes and their states{{#if:Ramusack|, Ramusack}. Cambridge University Press(2004). ISBN 978-0-521-26727-4
- ↑ The Constitution (26 Amendment) Act, 1971. Government of India.
- ↑ The Indian princes and their states{{#if:Ramusack|, Ramusack}. Cambridge University Press(2004). ISBN 978-0-521-26727-4
- ↑ An atlas and survey of South Asian history{{#if:Schmidt|, Schmidt}. M.E. Sharpe(1995). ISBN 978-1-56324-334-9
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Madhavrao Scindia. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- ↑ Railway Ministers. Irfca. Retrieved on 14 November 2018.
- ↑ Bhainsrauli village[1]
- ↑ Madhavrao Scindia Dies In Plane Crash
- ↑ Goddess Durga Locket
- ↑ Madha vrao Sindia killed in plane crash(1 October 2001). Retrieved 10 March 2013.
- ↑ The Scindia Dynasty. Genealogy.. Royal Ark.
- ↑ Shree Teen Haruko Tathya Britanta{{#if:JBR|, JBR}. Vidarthi Pustak Bhandar(1990). ISBN 99933-39-91-1
Bibliography
- Madhavrao Scindia: A life{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Penguin Books(2009). ISBN 978-0-670-08254-4
Template:Ministry of Civil Aviation (India) Template:Presidents of BCCI Template:Authority control