Remembering Sushma Swaraj

Our Correspondent

She was a minister like none of her predecessors. As the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj brought an elitist ministry closer to the common man, dealing with his every day issues. Even to the citizens of India’s closest foe she was a kind and approachable minister as none ever was.

In most cases, an intervention by the minister needed only an alert or tagging in her twitter account. In most medical cases, the action taken by Sushma Swaraj was swift bringing her closer to not just Indians but people of neightbouring countries as well.

Even though she had little voice in a PMO that was running India’s foreign affairs, Sushma Swaraj was proactive when it came to issues concerning Indian workers in the Gulf region. At a time when most officials at embassies and consulates across the Middle East were rigid and standoffish in their dealings with Indian expatriates approaching them during trying times, she brought about a remarkable change.

Swaraj left behind a legacy of an easily-accessible minister who helped the diaspora in distress with her revolutionary social media outreach.

Sushama Swaraj passed away a year back at AIIMS, in New Delhi at the age of 67.

Born on February 14, 1952, Sushma Swaraj started her political life with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the RSS’ student wing. Sushma Swaraj was a Supreme Court lawyer. She later joined the BJP.

She was the Information and Broadcasting Minister in the 13-day Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1996 and got the Cabinet portfolio again after he led the BJP to power in 1998. Always eager to take on a challenge, Sushma Swaraj contested against the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Bellary in 1999 Lok Sabha polls. Though she fell short of votes, she grew in stature. Long seen as a protege of veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani, she also was the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha between 2009-14.

She served as the Minister of External Affairs during the first tenure of the Modi government (2014-2019). She was elected as the Member of Parliament seven times and a Member of Legislative Assembly thrice.

Fondly remembering her, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar tweeted, ‘Today, more than ever, remember her fondly’.

Swaraj was replaced by S Jaishankar as the foreign minister in 2019 after she opted out of contenting the elections due to health reasons.

Vice-President, M Venkaiah Naidu had said that he missed his dear sister, Sushma Swaraj on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. “Dear sister Sushma, missing you a lot today,” Naidu tweeted in Hindi and English, along with an old picture of the late BJP leader tying him a ‘rakhi’.