Manoharsinhji Pradyumansinhji Jadeja (18 November 1935 – 27 September 2018) was an Indian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Early life

The eldest son of

Pradyumansinhji Lakhajirajsinhji Pradyumansinhji Lakhajirajsinhji (24 February 1913 – 9 November 1973), the 14th Thakore Saheb of Rajkot, was an Indian nobleman and ruler of the princely state of Rajkot from June 1940 until the abolition of princely titles in 1971. The th ...

, the 14th Thakore Saheb, Manoharsinhji was born at the Ranjit Vilas Palace in

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the ...

. He was educated at Rajkumar College, Rajkot, and at

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1856, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the edu ...

, Mumbai. Manoharsinhji had a bachelor of arts honours degree and a bachelor of laws degree. He was awarded a Master of Laws degree from the University of London.

Cricketing career

Like his father and grandfather (the 12th Thakore Saheb), Manoharsinhji was a keen

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er, and made his first-class debut for

Saurashtra Saurashtra, Sourashtra, or variants may refer to: ** Kathiawar, also called Saurashtra Peninsula, a peninsula in western India ** Saurashtra (state), alias United State of Kathiawar, a former Indian state, merged into Bombay State and since its d ...

against

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

in the 1955–56

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

, scoring 59 runs in his first innings.Saurashtra v Gujarat
Ranji Trophy 1955/56 (West Zone) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 December 2012. Manoharsinhji served as captain of the team from the 1957–58 season onwards, and was a regular in the team until his retirement after the 1963–64 season. Usually playing as a top order batsman, his highest first-class score (and only century) was an innings of 144 runs against Gujarat in December 1957. Overall, Manoharsinhji played 14 first-class matches, scoring 614 runs at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 29.23.Thakore Saheb of Rajkot
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 12 December 2012.

Political career

Standing for the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

in the constituency of Rajkot, Manoharsinhji was elected to the

Gujarat Legislative Assembly The Gujarat Legislative Assembly or Gujarat Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Gujarat, in the state capital Gandhinagar. Presently, 182 members of the Legislative Assembly are directly elected from single-member ...

in 1967, and served until 1971. Upon the death of his father in November 1973, he acceded to the title of Thakore Saheb. The title had afforded no powers or privileges since Indian independence in 1947, and serves merely as a

courtesy Courtesy (from the word , from the 12th century) is gentle politeness and courtly manners. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the behaviour expected of the nobility was compiled in courtesy books. History The apex of European courtly culture was ...

, although property attached to the title remains with the Thakore Saheb. Manoharsinhji served two further terms as a member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly for the Rajkot (I) constituency—from 1980 to 1985 and 1990 to 1995—and occupied a number of positions in the cabinet, including Minister for Finance, Minister for Youth Services, and Minister for Health. From 1998, he served as a vice-president of the

Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee The Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) is the state unit of the Indian National Congress in Gujarat. It is responsible for organizing and coordinating the party's activities and campaigns within the state, as well as selecting candidates ...

, the state division of the Indian National Congress. Politically, Manoharsinhji is generally known under the name "Manoharsinh Jadeja", deriving from his family's dynastic name.

Personal life

Manoharsinhji married Mankumari Devi Sahiba, the second daughter of Tej Singh Prabhakar, Maharaja of Alwar, in 1949, and had one son and four daughters. In November 2010 he purchased the Star of India, a vintage Rolls-Royce car custom-built for his grandfather Dharmendrasinhji Lakhajiraj in 1934. The car had been outside of the family for 42 years, as a part of Bill Meredith-Owens' Collection and was once the most expensive car in the world.

Death

Manoharsinhji died at his house at the Ranjit Vilas Palace on 27 September 2018.

References

{{end 1935 births 2018 deaths Indian cricketers 20th-century Indian monarchs Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat Indian sportsperson-politicians Gujarat MLAs 1980–1985 Cricketers from Rajkot Saurashtra cricketers State cabinet ministers of Gujarat Gujarat MLAs 1990–1995 Elphinstone College alumni Finance ministers of Gujarat Health ministers of Gujarat