The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia on her birth anniversary. Shri Modi has said that she was synonymous with courage and foresight.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister said;
“On her birth anniversary, tributes to Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia Ji. She was synonymous with courage and foresight. She devoted her life to serving others. Sharing what I had said during one of the previous #MannKiBaat programmes about her outstanding personality.”
Vijaya Raje Scindia (12 October 1919 – 25 January 2001), born Lekha Divyeshwari Devi and known popularly as the Rajmata of Gwalior, was a prominent Indian political personality. In the days of the British Raj, as the consort of the last ruling Maharaja of Gwalior, Jivajirao Scindia, she ranked among the highest royal figures of the land. In later life, she became a politician of considerable influence and was twice elected to both houses of the Indian parliament. She was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Vijaya Raje Scindia was born in 1919 at Sagar in present-day Madhya Pradesh, the eldest child of Thakur Mahendra Singh of Kotla State (U.P.), a government officer, by his second wife, Chuda Devashwari Devi. She was named Lekha Divyeshwari Devi at birth. Her father was a deputy collector in the provincial administration. Her mother was the daughter of former Commander-in-chief of the Nepalese Army Commanding-General Raja Khadga Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, the nephew of the founder of Rana dynasty of Nepal, Jang Bahadur Kunwar Rana. She died at Vijaya Raje’s birth. Her brother is Dhyanendra Singh, the husband of Maya Singh.
In February 1941, at the age of 22, Lekha was married to Jivajirao Scindia, Maharaja of Gwalior, one of the largest, richest and highest-ranking princely states in India.