He was viewed as a potential future prime ministerial candidate before the 1999 Lok Sabha elections in the aftermath of the controversy over Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin.

[11] A nine-term member of the Lok Sabha, Madhavrao Scindia never lost an election since 1971,[citation needed] when he won for the first time from Guna constituency at the age of 26.

He contested from Guna constituency as an independent candidate and won the seat a second time in spite of the wave in favour of the Janata Party.

He faced a turbulent period of agitation by the staff of the domestic carrier, Indian Airlines, and as part of a strategy of disciplining the workforce, he leased a number of aircraft from Russia.

Scindia was appointed president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), a post he held until his 3-year term expired in 1993.

[12] Madhavrao Scindia died at the age of 56, in a plane crash in Motta village, which is on the outskirts of Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh, on 30 September 2001.

[14] Being viewed as a future prime ministerial candidate before the 1999 Lok Sabha elections in the aftermath of the controversy over Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, was on his way to address a rally in Kanpur.

This included his personal secretary Rupinder Singh, journalists Sanjeev Sinha (The Indian Express), Anju Sharma (The Hindustan Times), Gopal Bisht, Ranjan Jha (Aaj Tak), pilot Ray Gautam and co-pilot Ritu Malik.

The bodies were charred beyond recognition and taken by road to Agra, from where a special Indian Air Force aircraft, sent by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, brought the remains to New Delhi.