Madhavrao Scindia: News

Born in the royal Scindia family of Gwalior, the late Madhavrao Scindia was a leader of the Indian National Congress (INC). He was the son of Jivajirao Scindia, the last ruling Maharaja of Gwalior. Scindia did his schooling in Gwalior and completed higher at New College, University of Oxford. He successfully contested his first Lok Sabha election in 1971 as part of the Jan Sangh from Guna. He was re-elected from the same constituency in 1977 as an Independent. However, in late 1979, Scindia, despite his family’s disapproval, joined the Congress and again won from Guna in the 1980 General Elections. Scindia served as the Union Minister of State for Railways under PM Rajiv Gandhi between 1984-86, during which he introduced the Shatabdi Express. He also served as the Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism during 1991-93 under PM PV Narasimha Rao. Scindia faced many difficulties during his tenure as the Aviation Minister, including a prolonged strike by Indian Airlines officials and a plane crash that led to his resignation in 1993. He also served as the Human Resource Development Minister briefly during 1995-96. Scindia died in a plane crash in 2001, when he was the sitting MP from Guna. In 2002, his son Jyotiraditya Scindia succeeded him as Guna’s MP.