Ranjitsinh Pratapsinh Gaekwad: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox royalty

|name=Ranjitsinh Gaekwad

|era name=The Maharaja of Baroda

|house-type=House of Baroda

|house=[[Gaekwad dynasty]]

|occupation=[[Politician]]

[[Cricketer]]

|religion=[[Hinduism]]

|father=[[Pratap Singh Rao Gaekwad]]

|title=[[Baroda|Maharaja of Baroda]]

|spouse=Shubhanginiraje

|issue=[[Samarjitsinh Gaekwad]]<br>Alaukika Raje<br>Anjana Raje

|death_place=[[Vadodara]], [[Gujarat]], [[India]]

|birth_place=[[Ootacamund]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British India]]

|birth_date=8 May 1938

|death_date=10 May 2012

|reign=1988–2012

|caption=Ranjitsinh Gaekwad, Maharaj of Gaekwad

'''Ranjitsinhrao Gaekwad''' (8 May 1938 – 10 May 2012)<ref>{{cite news|url=http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/GUJ-AHD-maharaja-of-baroda-ranjitsinh-gaekwad-dies-at-74-3247212.html|title=Maharaja of Baroda Ranjitsinh Gaekwad dies at 74|date=11 May 2012|work=Daily Bhaskar|accessdate=11 May 2012}}</ref> was an Indian politician and the titular [[Maharajah of Baroda|Maharaja of Baroda]] from 1988 until his death in 2012.

He was the younger brother of [[Fatehsinghrao Gaekwad]], who was the titular Maharaja of Baroda from 1951 to 1988. In the 26th amendment<ref>{{Citation|url=http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend26.htm|title=The Constitution (26 Amendment) Act, 1971|publisher=Government of India|work=indiacode.nic.in|year=1971|accessdate=9 November 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206041333/http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend26.htm|archivedate=6 December 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> to the [[Constitution of India]] promulgated in 1971, the Government of India abolished all official symbols of [[princely state|princely India]], including titles, privileges, and remuneration ([[Privy Purse in India|privy purses]]).<ref>'''1.''' {{cite book|last=Ramusack|first=Barbara N.|authorlink=Barbara Ramusack|title=The Indian princes and their states|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kz1-mtazYqEC&pg=PA278|accessdate=6 November 2011|year=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-26727-4|page=278}}, "Through a constitutional amendment passed in 1971, Indira Gandhi stripped the princes of the '''titles''', privy purses and regal privileges which her father's government had granted." (p 278). '''2.''' {{citation|last=Naipaul|first=V. S.|authorlink=V. S. Naipaul|title=India: A Wounded Civilization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYeWbmq7pkIC&pg=PT37|accessdate=6 November 2011|date=8 April 2003|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|isbn=978-1-4000-3075-0|pages=37–}} Quote: "The princes of India &ndash; their number and variety reflecting to a large extent the chaos that had come to the country with the break up of the Mughal empire &ndash; had lost real power in the British time. Through generations of idle servitude they had grown to specialize only in style. A bogus, extinguishable glamour: in 1947, with Independence, they had lost their state, and Mrs. Gandhi in 1971 had, without much public outcry, abolished their privy purses and '''titles'''." (pp 37&ndash;38). '''3.''' {{citation|last=Schmidt|first=Karl J.|title=An atlas and survey of South Asian history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FzmkFXSgxqgC&pg=PA78|accessdate=6 November 2011|year=1995|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=978-1-56324-334-9|page=78}} Quote: "Although the Indian states were alternately requested or forced into union with either India or Pakistan, the real death of princely India came when the Twenty-sixth Amendment Act (1971) abolished the princes' '''titles''', privileges, and privy purses." (page 78). '''4.''' {{citation|last=Breckenridge|first=Carol Appadurai|authorlink=Carol Breckenridge|title=Consuming modernity: public culture in a South Asian world|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LN4MN35b-r4C&pg=PA84|accessdate=6 November 2011|year=1995|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-0-8166-2306-8|pages=84–}}  Quote: "The third stage in the political evolution of the princes from rulers to citizens occurred in 1971, when the constitution ceased to recognize them as princes and their privy purses, '''titles''', and special privileges were abolished." (page 84).  '''5.''' {{citation|last=Guha|first=Ramachandra|authorlink=Ramchandra Guha|title=India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2fvd-CaFdqYC&pg=PA441|accessdate=6 November 2011|date=5 August 2008|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-095858-9|pages=441–}} Quote: "Her success at the polls emboldened Mrs. Gandhi to act decisively against the princes. Through 1971, the two sides tried and failed to find a settlement. The princes were willing to forgo their privy purses, but hoped at least to save their titles. But with her overwhelming majority in Parliament, the prime minister had no need to compromise.

Gaekwad was a member of the [[Lok Sabha]] (lower house of parliament in India) and served two terms as an MP (member of parliament), from 1980-89.<ref>[http://eci.gov.in/archive/GE2004/pollupd/pc/states/s06/partycomp22.htm Partywise Comparison Since 1977 Lok Sabha Elections - 22 - Baroda Parliamentary Constituency]</ref> He became the [[Maharaja of Baroda]] on the death of his elder brother on 1 September 1988. Ranjitsinhrao Gaekwad was also a well-known painter.<ref name="dna">{{cite news|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1134650|title=Maharaja chooses painting over politics|work=[[Daily News and Analysis|DNA]]|date=21 November 2007|accessdate=8 January 2013|author=Prabhu, Vidya}}</ref>