Madhavrao Scindia

Madhavrao Scindia
माधवराव सिंधिया
Minister of Railways
In office 22 October 1986 – 1 December 1989
Prime Minister	Rajiv Gandhi
Preceded by	Mohsina Kidwai
Succeeded by	George Fernandes
Personal details
Born	(1945-03-10)10 March 1945 Mumbai, India
Died
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Madhavi Raje Sahib Scindia
Children	Jyotiraditya Rao Scindia Chitrangada Raje Scindia
Religion	Hindu Maratha

Madhavrao Jivajirao Scindia (10 March 1945 – 30 September 2001) was an Indian politician from the Maratha clan,and minister from the Congress Party. Earlier, in 1961, he had become the titular Maharaja of Gwalior being a descendant of the Scindia dynasty of the Marathas. However, in the 26th amendment to the Constitution of India promulgated in 1971, the Government of India abolished all official symbols of princely India, including titles, privileges, and remuneration (privy purses).

Early life

Scindia was born to the last ruling Maharaja of Gwalior, Jivajirao Scindia. He was educated at the Scindia School, endowed by his family, in Gwalior, Winchester College and then at New College, Oxford.

After Indian independence in 1947, the princely state of Gwalior acceded to the Union of India and became part of the new state of Madhya Bharat, which in 1956 was merged into Madhya Pradesh. Scindia followed the political tradition set by his mother Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia and was elected to the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Indian parliament in 1971.

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 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) in the Rajiv Gandhi Ministry. He is credited with the modernisation and computerisation of Indian Railways and with maintaining the most cordial and professional relationship with his managerial cadres.

Prime Minister 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 accredited with set up of 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.

Styles

• 1945-1961- His Highness Yuvaraja Maharaj Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Bahadur.
• 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.

Death

Madhavrao Scindia was killed in a plane crash on the outskirts of Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh on 30 September 2001. All eight on board died in tragic crash: 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 autopsies were conducted and other legal formalities completed at AIIMS New Delhi by Professor T D Dogra. Although by then princely titles and privileges had long been abolished, his son Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia was symbolically anointed head of the family and the 'Maharaja of Gwalior' in a Hindu ceremony, the position carrying no legal status.[1].

Madhavrao Scindia Scindia Dynasty Born: 10 March 1945 Died: 2 October 2001
Preceded by Jivaji Rao Scindia	— TITULAR — Maharaja of Gwalior 1961–1971 Reason for succession failure: Monarchy abolished in 1948, and title, privileges, and privy purses abolished in 1971