Madhavrao Scindia
Encyclopedia
Madhavrao Scindia (10 March 1945 – 30 September 2001) was a prominent India
n politician and minister from the Congress Party
. He was born into the Scindia (Marathi
: शिंदे) family, who formerly ruled Gwalior. The Scindias are part of Maratha dynasty that ruled India before British raj after defeating Mughal empire.
, endowed by his family, in Gwalior, Winchester School and then at Oxford University.
After Indian independence in 1947, his father acceded to the Indian government and the kingdom of Gwalior became part of the new state of Madhya Bharat
, which in 1956 was merged into Madhya Pradesh
. Madhavrao followed the political tradition laid down by his mother Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia, who was elected to the Lok Sabha
(Lower house in the Indian Parliament) in 1971.
despite resistance from his larger family, and won the seat a second time. In order to avoid a direct contest with his mother, he ran from the neighbouring constituency of Guna
. But in 1984, he was nominated the Congress candidate in Gwalior
as a last-minute manoeuvre to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party
's Atal Behari Vajpayee, and won by a massive margin. Since then Scindia contested from either Gwalior
or Guna
and won on each occasion.
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 Behari Vajpayee as ABV-IIITM.
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. His first priority obviously was to return to the Congress and resume his old political bonds. His opportunity came when Narasimha Rao was ousted as Congress president after a string of indictments in corruption cases.
Scindia's political role and influence within the Congress party grew rapidly and he was seen as a potential prime ministerial candidate. His tragic demise in what was reported as a plane "crash" demolished many hopes.
His son, Jyotiraditya Scindia is a Member of Parliament to the seat that he held. He is presently a minister in Dr.Manmohan Singh government as Minister of State, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. His daughter Chitrangada Raje Singh is married to the Crown Prince of Kashmir
.
He was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India
from 1990 to 1993.
shayari.
, Scindia was known as 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.
became the new head of the family in a Hindu ceremony which officially handed the King's turban to him http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/10/13/stories/0213000h.htm.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n politician and minister from the Congress Party
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
. He was born into the Scindia (Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
: शिंदे) family, who formerly ruled Gwalior. The Scindias are part of Maratha dynasty that ruled India before British raj after defeating Mughal empire.
Early life
He was born to the last ruling Maharaja of Gwalior, Jivaji Rao Scindia. He was educated at the Scindia SchoolScindia School
The Scindia School is Indian boarding school for boys, established in 1897, and situated in a historic fortress known as Gwalior Fort, in the city of Gwalior, India...
, endowed by his family, in Gwalior, Winchester School and then at Oxford University.
After Indian independence in 1947, his father acceded to the Indian government and the kingdom of Gwalior became part of the new state of Madhya Bharat
Madhya Bharat
Madhya Bharat , also known as Malwa Union was an Indian state in west-central India, created on 28 May 1948 from twenty-five princely states which until 1947 had been part of the Central India Agency, with Jivaji Rao Scindia as its Rajpramukh...
, which in 1956 was merged into Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
. Madhavrao followed the political tradition laid down by his mother Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia, who was elected to the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
(Lower house in the Indian Parliament) in 1971.
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 at the age of 26. He contested as an independent with the support of the Jan Sangh, a party that his family had for long patronised. In 1977, he switched to the Congress PartyIndian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
despite resistance from his larger family, and won the seat a second time. In order to avoid a direct contest with his mother, he ran from the neighbouring constituency of Guna
Guna, India
Guna is a city and a municipality in Guna district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Guna District and is located on the banks of Parbati river.- History :...
. But in 1984, he was nominated the Congress candidate in Gwalior
Gwalior (Lok Sabha constituency)
Gwalior Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. This constituency covers the entire Gwalior district and part of Shivpuri district.-Assembly segments:...
as a last-minute manoeuvre to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
's Atal Behari Vajpayee, and won by a massive margin. Since then Scindia contested from either Gwalior
Gwalior (Lok Sabha constituency)
Gwalior Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. This constituency covers the entire Gwalior district and part of Shivpuri district.-Assembly segments:...
or Guna
Guna (Lok Sabha constituency)
Guna Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. This constituency covers the entire Ashok Nagar district and parts of Shivpuri and Guna districts.-Assembly segments:...
and won on each occasion.
Ministerial stints
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 in the Rajiv GandhiRajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
Ministry. He is credited with the modernisation and computerisation of Indian Railways
Indian Railways
Indian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India....
and with maintaining the most cordial and professional relationship with his managerial cadres.
Prime Minister
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
P. V. Narasimha Rao
P. V. Narasimha Rao
Pamulaparti Venkata "Narasimha Rao" was the ninth Prime Minister of India . He led an important administration, overseeing a major economic transformation and several home incidents affecting national security of India. Rao accelerated the dismantling of the Licence Raj. He is often referred to as...
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
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. 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 Behari Vajpayee as ABV-IIITM.
Rebellion and return
In 1996, he along with Arjun SinghArjun Singh
Arjun Singh was an Indian politician from the Indian National Congress party. He was the Union Minister of Human Resource Development in the Manmohan Singh cabinet from 2004 to 2009....
and other Congress dissidents had the opportunity to be part of the United Front
United Front (India)
The United Front was a coalition government of 13 political parties formed in India after the 1996 general elections. The coalition formed two governments in India between 1996 and 1998. The government was headed by two Prime Ministers from Janata Dal - H. D. Deve Gowda, and I. K. Gujral...
(U.F.) government at the Centre. Although his Madhya Pradesh Vikas Congress
Madhya Pradesh Vikas Congress
Madhya Pradesh Vikas Congress was a political party in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh from 1996 to 1998. MPVC was founded by former aviation minister Madhavrao Scindia, after that Scindia had been refused an Indian National Congress ticket for the 1996 Lok Sabha elections...
was part of the U.F., Scindia himself opted to stay out of the Cabinet. His first priority obviously was to return to the Congress and resume his old political bonds. His opportunity came when Narasimha Rao was ousted as Congress president after a string of indictments in corruption cases.
Scindia's political role and influence within the Congress party grew rapidly and he was seen as a potential prime ministerial candidate. His tragic demise in what was reported as a plane "crash" demolished many hopes.
His son, Jyotiraditya Scindia is a Member of Parliament to the seat that he held. He is presently a minister in Dr.Manmohan Singh government as Minister of State, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. His daughter Chitrangada Raje Singh is married to the Crown Prince of Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
.
He was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India
Board of Control for Cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered at Mumbai, is the national governing body for all cricket in India. It's not the apex governing body in India. The board was formed in December 1928 as BCCI replaced Calcutta Cricket Club. BCCI is a society, registered under the Tamil Nadu...
from 1990 to 1993.
Literary tastes
Scindia had a deep interest and commitment to literary activities. Thus instead of restricting his visits to political meetings, he was often the guest of honor in literary and cultural programs. On such occasions people used to request him to recite a poem after his formal lecture was over. He always used to oblige people by reciting choice poems or UrduUrdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
shayari.
Styles
From 1961 until the abolition of titles under Indira GandhiIndira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
, Scindia was known as 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
Baghatur
Baghatur is a historical Turco-Mongol honorific title, in origin a term for "hero" or "valiant warrior".The term was first used by the steppe peoples to the north and west of China as early as the 7th century as evidenced in Sui dynasty records...
, Shrinath, Mansur-i-Zaman, Maharaja
Maharaja
Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...
Scindia of Gwalior.
Death
Scindia died in a plane crash in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh on 29th September 2001 around 1.00pm http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/10/02/stories/05022511.htm. His son JyotiradityaJyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia
Maharaja Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress. He is also a member of the 15th Lok Sabha of India representing the Congress party and a Minister of State, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Mr...
became the new head of the family in a Hindu ceremony which officially handed the King's turban to him http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/10/13/stories/0213000h.htm.