NEW DELHI, JAN 25: A leading figure in the BJP, Vijayaraje Scindia, who died early today after a prolonged illness, emerged from the confines of a housewife of Gwalior's royal family to carve a niche in the world of politics.A former Congress leader, Vijayraje not only joined the BJP, but came to be known as one of the passionate proponents of its brand of Hindutva.Born in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh in 1919, she was brought up by her maternal grandparents. Her grandfather was a Rana in exile from Nepal. Vijayraje's mother died in childbirth and her father Mahendra Thakur Singh, a deputy collector, had another wife and family to look after.Scindia, educated at home initially, later studied in Vasantha College, Benares and Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow. Inspired by the freedom movement, she joined the struggle for independence.Born Lekha Divyeshwari, she married Jiyajirao Scindia, the Maharaja of Gwalior, and took the name Vijayaraje.After her husband's death in 1960, Vijayraje's cousin Sambhajirao Angre, better known as Sardar Angre, became her political mentor.She was initiated into electoral politics in 1962 when she contested for the Guna Lok Sabha seat in MP on a Congress ticket. But five years later, she quit the Congress and joined the Jana Sangh. She won the Kerera Assembly seat as the party candidate and plunged headlong into state politics.Vijayraje's first brush with political intrigue was when, with the help of 40-odd Congress defectors, opposition parties in Bhopal formed a coalition called the Samyukta Vidhayak Dal (SVD).Vijayraje came to the forefront of the BJP leadership in 1980 when she was made one of the vice presidents of the party. She played a key role in propagating the BJP's pet theme of Ayodhya and was considered one of main figures in the hardline camp.She remained BJP vice president till 1998 when on health grounds she stepped down from office and decided to call it a day from electoral politics.
