In pictures: Sushma Swaraj — a people’s minister and politician of many firsts
A loyal BJP leader and an easily-accessible external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj has left behind a legacy of possibilities she opened up for women politicians in a male-dominated party like the BJP.
New Delhi: A powerful orator, an easily-accessible external affairs minister and a politician of many firsts, Sushma Swaraj was a loyal BJP soldier who was always ready to face a challenge.
Swaraj’s attachment with the party ideology and principles was apparent even hours before she passed away as she tweeted to congratulate Prime Narendra Modi after the Centre’s move to revoke the special status for Jammu and Kashmir.
“I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime,” she said.
She passed away at AIIMS on Tuesday night after suffering a cardiac arrest. She was 67.
Swaraj, who had a kidney transplant in 2016, had opted out of fighting the Lok Sabha elections this year due to health reasons.
She was not part of the Modi government this time and S. Jaishankar replaced her as the External Affairs Minister. She left behind a legacy of an easily-accessible minister who helped the diaspora in distress with her revolutionary social media outreach.
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