Jyotiraditya Scindia: 10 things you should know about him

Former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia greets as he joins Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), at party headquarters in New Delhi, Wednesday, March 11 , 2020. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)

Jyotiraditya Scindia, who exited Congress after 18 years, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at its headquarters in presence of BJP President JP Nadda on March 11.
As Scindia moves on and begins his journey with the saffron party, here are 10 things you need to know about him:

1. Jyotiraditya Scindia belongs to the royal Scindia family that once ruled Gwalior. His grandfather Jiwajirao Scindia was the last Maratha king of Scindia dynasty that ruled over a substantial part of Madhya Pradesh.

2. Scindia, a former member of Parliament, was a Minister of State with independent charge between October 2012 and May 2014 in the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cabinet. He was appointed Minister of State for Power in November 2012 in a cabinet reshuffle. He was first inducted in cabinet in 2007 when he became the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology.

Follow live updates of Madhya Pradesh crisis here

3. Scindia was born on January 1, 1971, to Madhavrao Scindia and Madhavi Raje Scindia. The same year, his grandmother Vijay Raje and father Madhavrao Scindia won the Lok Sabha elections as Bharatiya Jana Sangh candidates.

4. Scindia had joined the Congress after the demise of his father and the sitting MP of Guna on September 30, 2001. In 2002, he was elected from Guna constituency.

5. Jyotiraditya Scindia is the director of the Board of Governors of Scindia School in Gwalior that was founded in 1897 by his great-grandfather, Madhavrao Scindia I, to educate the princes and nobles.

Also read — Congress not the same party that it used to be: Jyotiraditya Scindia

6. He is fighting a bitter legal battle with other members of the royal family over a property dispute, which began in 1985. The dispute is over property worth over Rs 40,000 crore.

7. His permanent residence is Jai Vilas Mahal, a 19th-century palace in Gwalior.

8. Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia is his paternal aunt. After Scindia joined the BJP, Raje tweeted saying, "It’s good to be on the same team."

9. In 2016, a 65-year-old man died after being hit by his car near Alappuzha in Kerala. After the incident, former Congress leader tweeted to express his condolence and said that he will meet the bereaved family.

10. Scindia, who is married to Priyadarshini Raje Scindia, has two children: Mahanaryaman Scindia and Ananya Scindia.