Beginnings of her political career
Sushma Swaraj began her political career in 1970 when she joined Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarti Parishad (ABVP). She was also an active member in RSS.
The youngest cabinet minister
In 1977, Sushma took charge as the cabinet minister in the Janata Party Government under Devi Lal as the Chief Minister. At that time, she was the youngest cabinet minister assuming the office at the age of 25.
She had the honor of bagging the many firsts in her political career
In 1979, Sushma became the Janata Party’s Haryana State President at the young age of 27. She has several firsts as a female occupying the positions of the spokesperson of a national party in India, the general secretary, leader of opposition, minister of external affairs and union cabinet minister. She was also the first female chief minister of Delhi for a short period in 1998 (from October 13 to December 3).
Gave a strict opposition to Sonia Gandhi in 1999
In just 12 days of her campaign against Sonia Gandhi, Sushma managed to get 358,000 votes in the Bellary Constituency of Karnataka. Sushma lost only with a small margin of 7% votes. This was her popularity among the masses.
An outstanding parliamentarian
She was the first female to bag the award of ‘Outstanding parliamentarian’ in 2004. She was elected as an MP for seven times and as the member of legislative assembly for 3 times.
The second woman to become the External Affairs Minister
When she became the External Affairs Minister in 2014 Modi government, she was the second one to assume the office after Indira Gandhi. After serving from this position for five years, she took back from contesting in the election on health grounds during 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The closing day tweet
On the last day of her life on the earth, she tweeted, “Thank You Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime”, registering her happiness over the successful passing of the bill that split Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.
A highly venerated politician passes away
When she passed away due to cardiac arrest on Tuesday, August 6, 2019, she was heralded as the most charismatic leader and many people tweeted she will be remembered forever in the pages of the nation’s history for the commendable work she had accomplished for the country and the BJP party.
Narendra Modi praises her political life
Praising her talents and contribution as a minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on her death, “An excellent administrator, Sushma Ji set high standards in every ministry she handled. She played a key role in bettering India’s ties with various nations. As a minister, we also saw her compassionate side, helping fellow Indians who were in distress in any part of the world.”