Vijaya Raje Scindia

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Vijaya Raje Scindia
Scindia on 2001 postage cover of India
Maharani of Gwalior
Tenure	21 February 1941 – 16 July 1961
Successor	Madhavi Raje Scindia
Rajmata of Gwalior
Tenure	16 July 1961 – 25 January 2001
Successor	Madhavi Raje Scindia
Religion	Hinduism
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 5 April 1957 – 2 April 1962
Preceded by	V. G. Deshpande
Succeeded by	Ramsahai Pande
Constituency	Guna, Madhya Pradesh
In office 2 April 1962 – 4 March 1967
Preceded by	Suraj Prasad
Succeeded by	Ram Awtar Sharma
Constituency	Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
In office 15 March 1971 – 18 January 1977
Preceded by	Yashwant Singh Kushwah
Succeeded by	Raghubir Singh Machhand
Constituency	Bhind, Madhya Pradesh
In office 2 December 1989 – 10 October 1999
Preceded by	Mahendra Singh
Succeeded by	Madhavrao Scindia
Constituency	Guna, Madhya Pradesh
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office 10 April 1978 – 2 December 1989
Constituency	Madhya Pradesh
Vice President of the Bharatiya Janata Party
In office 1980–1998
President	L. K. Advani (1993–1998; 1986–1991) Murli Manohar Joshi (1991–1993) Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1980–1986)
Personal details
Born	Lekha Divyeshwari Devi (1919-10-12)12 October 1919 Sagar, Central Provinces, British India[1]
Died	25 January 2001(2001-01-25) (aged 81) New Delhi, Delhi, India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party (1980–2001)
Other political affiliations	Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1957–1977) Janata Party (1977–1980)
Spouse	Maharaja Jiwajirao Scindia ​ ​ (m. 1941; died 1961)​
Children	Padma Raje Usha Raje Madhavrao Scindia Vasundhara Raje Yashodhara Raje
Parents	Thakur Mahendra Singh (father) Chuda Devashwari Devi (mother)
Residences	Jeeja Asheesh, Jai Vilas, Gwalior Lekha Vihar, Sarojini Nagar, New Delhi

Vijaya Raje Scindia (born Lekha Divyeshwari Devi; 12 October 1919 – 25 January 2001), known popularly as the Rajmata Scindia, was an Indian politician and consort of the last ruling Maharaja of Gwalior, Jiwajirao Scindia, in British Raj. In later life, she was elected repeatedly to both houses of the Indian parliament. She was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party.^[2] William Dalrymple wrote in his 1998 book The Age of Kali that she had been called "a madwoman and a saint; a dangerous reactionary and a national saviour; a stubborn and self-righteous old lunatic and a brave and resilient visionary."^[3]