Madhavrao Jivajirao Scindia (10 March 1945 – 30 September 2001) was an Indian politician and a minister in the Government of India. He was a member of the Indian National Congress party. 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," which lasted until 1971, whereupon all were abolished by the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India. Early life Scindia was born in a Royal Maratha family, to the last ruling Maharaja of Gwalior, Jivajirao Scindia. He married Madhavi Raje Sahib Scindia , a daughter of Army General of Madhesh Province, Nepal. He underwent his schooling in Scindia School, Gwalior and thereafter went for higher studies in Winchester College and at New College, Oxford. 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 in 1971 from the Guna constituency on a Bharatiya Jana Sangh ticket. 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 Bharatiya Jan Sangh (the precursor of the present day Bharatiya Janata Party), which his family had long patronised. When the Emergency, he fled the country into self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom. After he returned to India , he resigned from the Bharatiya Jan Sangh. He contested from Guna constituency as an independent candidate and won the seat a second time in spite of the wave in favour of the Janata Party. In the 1980 election, he switched allegiance to Indian National Congress and won from Guna a third time. In 1984, he was nominated as the Congress party's 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