On this Valentine’s Day, the country is celebrating the 70th birth anniversary of former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on February 14. The BJP veteran, who achieved many milestones in a political career spanning four decades, died of a heart attack on August 6, 2019 at the age of 67. She was one of the most prominent faces of BJP who contributed immensely to the development of the party and never shied away from facing challenges.
Born on 14 February 1952, Sushma Swaraj’s parents were from a place called Dharmapura in Lahore, Pakistan. But after partition he came to India with his family. Sushma studied law. After which she was also a lawyer in the Supreme Court. Sushma Swaraj was married to Swaraj Kaushal, a designated senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India. He served as the Governor of Mizoram from 1990 to 1993. Kaushal was also a Member of Parliament from 1998 to 2004. Swaraj was also awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.
Cabinet minister in MLA 27 at the age of 25
Swaraj made her debut in electoral politics with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the RSS. In 1977, at the age of 25, Sushma became an MLA by winning the election from Ambala seat on Janata Dal ticket. After this, she was elected MLA from this seat in 1987. In 1979, he was made a cabinet minister in Devi Lal’s government. Sushma was the first at that time to be made a cabinet minister at the age of 27.
With this, she also became the first Chief Minister of Delhi. Swaraj was the Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the 13-day Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1996 and again got a cabinet portfolio after the BJP came to power in 1998. Sushma Swaraj was a seven-time parliamentarian and three-time MLA.
strong leader of the organization
Sushma has been considered a skilled leader of the organization along with the cabinet. She has been the first national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party. With this she became the first woman spokesperson of any national party. She was also the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha between 2009-14.
Second Indian woman to become foreign minister
In the Modi government in 2014, Sushma Swaraj was made the Minister of External Affairs. She was the second Indian woman, after Indira Gandhi, to hold the charge of the Ministry of External Affairs. While being the foreign minister, Sushma had become the foreign minister of the people. She would help people through Twitter. If anyone had any problem and she would tell Sushma Swaraj from Twitter, she used to remove it immediately. Swaraj also became popular for the response in Pakistan to people seeking visas for medical treatment in India.
During his tenure as Foreign Minister, he handled several strategically sensitive issues including Indo-Pak and Sino-India relations. His role in resolving the thorny Doklam standoff between the Indian and Chinese sides will be remembered. Renowned for being one of India’s most helpful, tech-savvy ministers, Swaraj had restored our faith in the bureaucracy and won praise from across the world.
always eager for challenges
Sushma has always been a lioness fighting challenges. She is not afraid of any situation. No matter how big the challenge came in front of her, she never bowed down before him. In the 1999 general election, Swaraj contested from Bellary, Karnataka in front of the then Congress President Sonia Gandhi. However, he had to face defeat. But the strength with which he contested the election increased his stature.