New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday released a commemorative coin of Rs 100 in honour of Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia through a virtual ceremony. The special coin minted by the Ministry of Finance is being released in celebration of her birth centenary. Also Read - PM Modi Launches Property Cards Under SVAMITVA Scheme, Calls it 'Historic Move' Towards Rural Transformation

Family members of Scindia along with other dignitaries joined the ceremony from different locations all over the country

Paying tribute to the leader, PM Modi said the life and work of Rajmata Scindia was always connected to the aspirations of the poor and her life was all about Jan Seva.

He said, “Rajmata Scindia dedicated her life to poor people. She proved that for people’s representatives not ‘Raj Satta’ but ‘Jan Seva’ is important. Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindiaji was a witness to every important phase of Indian politics from the independence movement to the decades after independence”.

”Prior to independence, Rajmata’s experiences have expanded widely, from burning Holi of foreign clothes, to the Emergency and the Ram Temple movement,” he added.

Enumerating a series of progressive reforms and developments in the country, PM said, Rajmata Scindia would have been happy to see these positive changes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi releases a commemorative coin of Rs 100 in honour of Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia, through a virtual ceremony.

The special coin minted by the Ministry of Finance is being released in celebration of her birth centenary. pic.twitter.com/SG6nd7V8of

— ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2020

Who is she?

Popularly known as the Rajmata of Gwalior, Vijaya Raje Scindia was a Jana Sangh leader and one of the founding members of the BJP. Born on October 12, 1919, Scindia was one of the major faces of the saffron party and vocal proponent of its core Hindutva issues.

Incidentally, she won her first election as a Congress candidate and later won as the candidate of the Jan Sangh, Swatantra Party and BJP. She tasted defeat when the BJP made her contest against Indira Gandhi in Rae Bareli in 1980.

Notably, her daughter Vasundhara Raje and grandson Jyotiraditya Scindia are currently senior BJP leaders. Repeating history, Jyotiraditya ended his decades-long association with the Congress to join the BJP.