Jyotiraditya Scindia (born 1 January 1971) is an Indian politician and the Union Minister of Communications and of Development of the North Eastern Region. He is the head of the Scindia family, which ruled the princely state of Gwalior. He spent eighteen years in the Congress, serving as a minister, before joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in March 2020 in a move that brought down the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh. He was Civil Aviation Minister from 2021 to 2024.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia |
| Born | 1 January 1971, Bombay (now Mumbai), India |
| Age | 55 |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party (since 2020); earlier Indian National Congress |
| Office | Minister of Communications (2024–present) |
| Constituency | Guna, Madhya Pradesh |
| Education | The Doon School; Harvard University (B.A. Economics, 1993); Stanford Graduate School of Business (MBA, 2001) |
| Spouse | Priyadarshini Raje Scindia (m. 1994) |
| Children | 2 (Mahanaryaman and Ananya) |
Early Life
Scindia is the son of Madhavrao Scindia, the last titular Maharaja of Gwalior and a Congress minister, and Madhavi Raje. His grandmother, Vijaya Raje Scindia, was a founder of the BJP, and his aunt Vasundhara Raje was twice Chief Minister of Rajasthan. He studied at Campion School and The Doon School, then at Harvard and Stanford, and worked for Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
Political Career
His father died in an air crash in September 2001. Jyotiraditya won the resulting by-election in Guna in 2002 and held the seat in 2004, 2009 and 2014. He was Minister of State for Communications, for Commerce and Industry, and, with independent charge, for Power. A close associate of Rahul Gandhi, he campaigned for the party’s win in Madhya Pradesh in 2018 but was not made Chief Minister. In 2019 he lost Guna, the family’s first defeat there.
On 10 March 2020 he resigned from the Congress. Twenty-two legislators loyal to him also quit, the state government of Kamal Nath fell, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan returned as Chief Minister. Scindia joined the BJP and entered the Rajya Sabha.
He became Minister of Civil Aviation in July 2021, a post his father had once held, and oversaw the sale of Air India to the Tata group. He won Guna again in 2024 and was given Communications, where he handles telecom and the postal service.
Personal Life
He married Priyadarshini Raje of the Gaekwad family of Baroda in 1994. The family home is the Jai Vilas Palace in Gwalior. He is also involved in cricket administration in Madhya Pradesh.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Jyotiraditya Scindia born?
Jyotiraditya Scindia was born on 1 January 1971 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India and is 55 years old.
Featured image: Jyotiraditya Scindia, then Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, speaks at an export awards function, New Delhi, 4 March 2011. Photo by Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India), licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
