In a sad turn of events, Madhavrao Scindia, a populist politician and former maharaja of the princely state of Gwalior, passed away on September 30, 2001. A plane crash outside Uttar Pradesh claimed his life.
Scindia's aristocratic background, charismatic personality, eloquence and aptitude for rough and tumble of democratic politics contributed to his widespread appeal, and even after his untimely passing, he is still revered by his supporters and the general populace.
20 years have passed since the tragic death of Madhavrao Scindia, who at one point ranked second among Congress party supporters in terms of popularity and had the potential to become the country's prime minister in 2004.
On his 21st death anniversary, let's remember Madhavrao Scindia and a look at some interesting facts about him:
Scindia was born to royal Maratha family; the dynasty was founded in 1726 by Ranuji Scindia and ruled erstwhile state of Gwalior, based in present-day Madhya Pradesh.
Scindia, who studied in ivy league college affiliated to Oxford University, joined politics upon his return from the UK. He was elected to Lok Sabha from Gwalior in 1971.
Scindia, who was a staunch Congress leader, had actually started off his career on a Jana Sangh ticket. He resigned from the party after Emergency in 1975.
Madhavrao's entry in Congress was vehemently opposed by his family; but after joining the party, he successfully won the Guna constituency in 1980 elections.
Madhavrao Scindia was elected to the Lok Sabha for nine terms. He also held important portfolios during his career.
Madhavrao introduced the Shatabdi Express with great success between 1984 and 1986 while serving as Rajiv Gandhi's Railway minister. He is also credited with bringing computers and contemporary technology to the trains.
Between 1991 and 1993, Madhavrao also served as P.V. Narasimha Rao's minister of civil aviation and tourism. Because of employee unrest at Indian Airlines, he had a challenging time as minister of aviation. He left his position after a jet crashed.
He served as the minister of human resource development in the Union cabinet in 1995.
Following Sonia Gandhi's election as Congress president in 1998, Madhavrao was crucial to the Congress.
Gandhi, who was not at all fluent in Hindi, frequently requested that Madhavrao carry out parliamentary duties.
He was instrumental in managing party issues inside and outside of Parliament.
A dedicated cricket player, Madhavrao also served as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India from 1990 to 1993.
