Sushma Swaraj

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sushma Swaraj

• Sushma Swaraj was a prominent Indian politician. She had served on many important ministerial positions during her career. She was India’s most prominent Minister of External Affairs. Sushma Swaraj passed away on 6 August 2019 in AIIMS, New Delhi.

• She was born into a modest family in Ambala.

  

• Her parents hailed from Dharampura area of Lahore, Pakistan. They immigrated to India after the partition.

• She was highly influenced by Socialism in India, and her ideology got stronger when she met her husband, Swaraj Kaushal.

  

• At the age of 25, she became the youngest Cabinet Minister of an Indian state (Haryana) under the then Haryana Chief Minister, Chaudhary Devi Lal.

  

• In 1998, she assumed the office of the Chief Minister of Delhi, but, her tenure ended in just 52 days. She was the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi.

  

• In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, Swaraj contested against Sonia Gandhi from Bellary, Karnataka, but, she lost. During the 2004 General Elections, when the Congress was set to form the government, an emotionally charged Swaraj threatened that if an Italian born Sonia became the Prime Minister of India, she would shave her hair, wear white sarees and would only eat groundnut.

• From 19 March 1998 to 12 October 1998, she handled the Information and Broadcasting Ministry with the additional charge of the Ministry of Telecommunications in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government.

  

• During her tenure as the I&B Minister, she had declared the film production as an industry. It enabled the Indian film industry to be eligible for bank loans. Earlier, films used to be financed by the underworld. This decision liberated the film industry from the clutches of the underworld.

• She was the Union health Minister from January 2003 to May 2004. She had established six new AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) at Bhopal (MP), Bhubaneshwar (Odisha), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Patna (Bihar), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), and Rishikesh (Uttrakhand).

• In the 2009 General Elections, Sushma Swaraj was elected as an MP from the Vidisha Lok Sabha Constituency of Madhya Pradesh. It was a huge win as she had won by the maximum winning margin of over 4 Lac votes. She was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. It made her the first female Leader of the Opposition in the history of India.

  

• In May 2014, she was appointed as the Minister of External Affairs in the Narendra Modi Government.

• She played an important role in implementing the foreign policy of the Narendra Modi Government. She won the hearts of many for her compassionate and easy to approach behaviour. Many a time, she responded instantly on Twitter to anyone who would ask for her help. It got her praises from all over the world; due to the quick responses and her effective and efficient style of working.

• As of July 2019, she was the most followed woman politician on Twitter with over 13.2 million followers.

  

• In 2019, she did not contest the General Elections, nor did she continue her post as the Minister of External Affairs. She stated that she was recovering from her kidney transplant surgery, and she wanted some time for her health.

• On 6 August 2019, she had a cardiac arrest at her residence in Delhi. She was rushed to the emergency ward of AIIMS New Delhi at 9:30 PM. The doctors attended to her and tried to revive her, but, she passed away at 10:50 PM.

• Several politicians and cabinet ministers rushed to AIIMS after hearing the news.

  

• On 7 August 2019, her mortal remains were brought to her residence in New Delhi. Several political leaders visited to pay their last respects to her. The President of India Ram Nath Kovind, Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, and many more visited Sushma Swaraj’s residence.

• Thereafter, her body was taken to the BJP headquarters at noon for the BJP workers and the leaders across the party lines to come and pay their last respects.

  

• Her funeral took place in the Lodhi Crematorium with full state honours.