Sushma Swaraj no more: Former EAM had made her mark with administrative skills; demise leaves major void in politics

Sushma Swaraj, former Union Minister for External Affairs, passed away late on Tuesday after suffering a cardiac arrest. Swaraj’s demise leaves a major void in Indian politics, and she was known for her oratory and administrative skills.

Swaraj’s last prominent public appearance was on 30 May, 2019, when the second Narendra Modi-led government was sworn in. At that time, she appeared to be in good health. She was in good spirits and interacted with politicians across party lines.

On Tuesday, Swaraj had congratulated the Modi government on Twitter as the Parliament cleared a resolution to revoke sections of Article 370 and passed a bill to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir.

On 29 June, she announced that she had vacated her official residence as she was no longer a minister. Her announcement drew praise on Twitter for setting an example of probity for other politicians.

In November last year, Swaraj announced that she will not be contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections due to health reasons. However, she had clarified that she was not retiring from politics.

People’s minister

Swaraj made her mark with her hands-on approach towards her responsibilities and ability to connect with people as the external affairs minister in the first Narendra Modi-led government. During her tenure, the BJP leader had been active and popular on Twitter reaching out to the Indian diaspora in distress for assistance.

Many firsts of Swaraj’s political career

Swaraj began her political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in the 1970s and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the Emergency in 1977. That year, at the age of 25, she joined the Haryana government as education minister, thus becoming the country’s youngest state Cabinet minister.

Swaraj was also Delhi’s first female chief minister, holding that post from 13 October, 1998 to 3 December, 1998.

In 2007, she notched yet another achievement, becoming the first woman to be given the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award. Incidentally, she received the award from Pratibha Patil, India’s first female president.

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Swaraj had been handpicked by BJP veteran LK Advani as the general secretary, and was the first woman to hold the post in the party.

Electoral battles

One of Sushma Swaraj’s most prominent electoral battles was against Sonia Gandhi in Bellary in 1999. Bellary was known to be a Congress bastion, as the party had not lost a single Lok Sabha election from the seat.

Swaraj, however, gave the Congress leader a tough fight in the party’s stronghold. As an article in News18 notes, she learnt Kannada in just 30 days and even delivered speeches in the language. She lost by only 56,000 votes, and subsequently, Atal Bihari Vajpayee rewarded her by giving her a Cabinet berth. She held the portfolios of Information and Broadcasting and Health and Family Welfare.

In 2004, when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) won power, she threatened to shave her head and wear white if Sonia Gandhi was to be become the prime minister. Swaraj had pointed to Gandhi’s foreign origins, an issue which she had harped on in the 1999 Lok Sabha election as well. However, the issue later got relatively sidelined as the Congress appointed Manmohan Singh as the prime minister.

The mortal remains of Sushma Swaraj are being taken from AIIMS to her residence in Delhi, where they will be kept overnight. The body will be taken to the BJP headquarters at 12 pm on Wednesday for the party workers and leaders to pay their tributes. The remains will then be taken to Lodhi Road crematorium, where the last rites will be held.

Swaraj is survived by her husband Swaraj Kaushal and her daughter Bansuri.