A BJP stalwart with Socialist roots
Hours before fatal heart attack, she had expressed happiness at removal of special status for J&K
07/08/2019 , Special Correspondent , NEW DELHI
Former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away here on Tuesday after suffering cardiac arrest. She was rushed to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation was administered but doctors were unable to revive her, hospital officials said. She was declared dead at 10.50 p.m.
Just a couple of hours earlier, she had expressed happiness at the removal of special status for Jammu & Kashmir, thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making it possible “in her lifetime” to see the event.
Long career
Ms. Swaraj, 67, had a long career in politics. She was known for her skilled oratory and was, at 25 years, the youngest-ever Cabinet Minister in the Haryana government led by the late Devi Lal. A lawyer by training, she was part of the legal team put together by the Opposition when socialist leader George Fernandes was arrested during the Emergency. Since she and Swaraj Kaushal, who was also involved with the Socialists, were part of the legal team and had to travel to Mumbai together, their law professor and later Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand suggested that they get married, a story later recounted by her with much relish.
While she was considered a latecomer to the BJP, having started out in the socialist ranks, she held the confidence of top leaders and was chosen by the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to take on UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Bellary in 1999. While she lost that election, she won hearts, narrowed the victory margin of the Congress and provided a foothold to the BJP in that area.
She was variously Information and Broadcasting, Parliamentary Affairs and Health Minister in the Vajpayee government and also served as Delhi Chief Minister in 1998, a position she lost to Sheila Dikshit who also passed away recently.
Ms. Swaraj and Ms. Gandhi tangled again in 2004, after the UPA came to power, with the former threatening to shave her head and live on berries if the latter became PM. As the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha between 2009 and 2014, however, the two did repair their relationship.
Ms. Swaraj was seen as part of the old guard of the BJP but fit in well as a responsive Minister for External Affairs, who nevertheless ceded the limelight to Prime Minister Modi in foreign policy.
A kidney transplant some years ago saw her opt out of electoral politics, and later from the Cabinet formed by Mr. Modi in his second term.
Hours before fatal heart attack, she had expressed happiness at removal of special status for J&K
07/08/2019 , Special Correspondent , NEW DELHI
Former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away here on Tuesday after suffering cardiac arrest. She was rushed to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation was administered but doctors were unable to revive her, hospital officials said. She was declared dead at 10.50 p.m.
Just a couple of hours earlier, she had expressed happiness at the removal of special status for Jammu & Kashmir, thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making it possible “in her lifetime” to see the event.
Long career
Ms. Swaraj, 67, had a long career in politics. She was known for her skilled oratory and was, at 25 years, the youngest-ever Cabinet Minister in the Haryana government led by the late Devi Lal. A lawyer by training, she was part of the legal team put together by the Opposition when socialist leader George Fernandes was arrested during the Emergency. Since she and Swaraj Kaushal, who was also involved with the Socialists, were part of the legal team and had to travel to Mumbai together, their law professor and later Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand suggested that they get married, a story later recounted by her with much relish.
While she was considered a latecomer to the BJP, having started out in the socialist ranks, she held the confidence of top leaders and was chosen by the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to take on UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Bellary in 1999. While she lost that election, she won hearts, narrowed the victory margin of the Congress and provided a foothold to the BJP in that area.
She was variously Information and Broadcasting, Parliamentary Affairs and Health Minister in the Vajpayee government and also served as Delhi Chief Minister in 1998, a position she lost to Sheila Dikshit who also passed away recently.
Ms. Swaraj and Ms. Gandhi tangled again in 2004, after the UPA came to power, with the former threatening to shave her head and live on berries if the latter became PM. As the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha between 2009 and 2014, however, the two did repair their relationship.
Ms. Swaraj was seen as part of the old guard of the BJP but fit in well as a responsive Minister for External Affairs, who nevertheless ceded the limelight to Prime Minister Modi in foreign policy.
A kidney transplant some years ago saw her opt out of electoral politics, and later from the Cabinet formed by Mr. Modi in his second term.
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