Sushma Swaraj: Doyen Of Indian Politics Is No More; All You Need To Know About Former External Affairs Minister

Sushma Swaraj Passes Away: One of the most prominent women faces in the Indian Politics, took her last breathe on August 6 in Delhi. She was 67.

Sushma Swaraj

New Delhi: Sushma Swaraj, the senior BJP leader and former foreign minister, passed away on Tuesday night in Delhi. One of the most prominent women faces in the Indian Politics, Swaraj took her last breathe on August 6 at AIIMS in the national capital. The BJP veteran, who suffered a massive heart attack, was 67. A star minister during Modi government's first stint, Swaraj did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and chose to sit out of the government this year on account of her health. After PM Modi's swearing-in ceremony last month, Sushma Swaraj wrote an emotional message on Twitter, thanking PM Narendra Modi for giving her the opportunity to hold the office for five years. Her last Twitter post was about thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the government’s move on Kashmir stating that she was waiting for this day in her lifetime.

प्रधान मंत्री जी - आपका हार्दिक अभिनन्दन. मैं अपने जीवन में इस दिन को देखने की प्रतीक्षा कर रही थी. @narendramodi ji - Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime.

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) August 6, 2019

Who Was Sushma Swaraj? 

• Born in Ambala Cantonment in Haryana, Swaraj studied at S. D. College in Ambala and was given "best student" award. She later studied law at Panjab University.
• The BJP veteran, Sushma Swaraj was also a former Supreme Court lawyer. As a senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party, Swaraj served as the Minister of External Affairs of India from 26 May 2014 to 30 May 2019; she was the second woman to hold the office, after Indira Gandhi.
• She was elected seven times as a Member of Parliament and three times as a Member of the Legislative Assembly. At the age of 25 in 1977, she became the youngest cabinet minister of Indian state of Haryana. She also served as 5th Chief Minister of Delhi from 13 October 1998 to 3 December 1998.
• On 26 May 2014, she became the Minister of External Affairs in the union cabinet. Swaraj had enthusiastically performed the tasks assigned to her by her party including contesting the election from Bellary in Karnataka against Congress president Sonia Gandhi int he year 1999. Swaraj was a minister in the Vajpayee governments and headed ministries including information and broadcasting and health.
• Swaraj was called India's 'best-loved politician' by the US daily Wall Street Journal. Quick-witted and articulate, Sushma Swaraj was well regarded in the BJP for her oratorical skills. She also strongly espouses causes such as cow protection which are close to the heart of BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
• Sushma Swaraj decided not to contest the 2019 Indian general election due to health reasons as she was recovering a kidney transplant and "save herself from dust and stay safe from infection" and hence did not join the Modi Ministry in 2019.

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