A prominent face of woman representation in Indian politics, Sushma Swaraj was most famous for living up to Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s doctrine of winning the people’s hearts.

Sushma SwarajOne of the country’s most respected leaders, she showed remarkable dedication in serving the people of the country and trumped her role as External Affairs Minister in the previous cabinet of the Narendra Modi government. She was the second woman to hold the office, after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Through her extensive use of Twitter, Sushma Swaraj had earned a reputation of easily-accessible External Affairs Minister. The BJP stalwart took a personal interest in resolving minor issues like issuance of visa to the needy and helped the Indian diaspora in distress by her revolutionary social media outreach.

Swaraj brought a sense of assertiveness in India’s diplomacy and played a key role in resolving the Doklam standoff with China in 2017. She had also played a key role in India approaching the International Court of Justice challenging a Pakistani military court’s death sentence to Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Her digital diplomacy and humanitarian approach in dealing with issues of international relations, made her a favourite in the Indian politics. However, ill health forced her to step out of politics. She had won from Vidisha parliamentary constituency in Madhya Pradesh in 2014. Sushma Swaraj was a seven-time Member of Parliament and a three-time MLA.

Born in Haryana in 1952, Sushma Swaraj went on to become a practicing lawyer in the Supreme Court. After being an active member of Jayaprakash Narayan’s anti-Emergency movement, she became a member of the Bhartiya Janata Party.

Mrs. Swaraj started her political life with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the RSS’ student wing, and later joined the BJP. She had played a key role in strengthening the BJP across the country in 1990s. Swaraj was External Affairs Minister from 2014 to 2019, leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha from 2009 to 2014, Minister for Information and Broadcasting in Vajpayee Government from 2000-2003. She won Best Parliamentarian Award in 2007.

Swaraj has many firsts to her credit such as being the youngest cabinet minister in the Haryana government in 1977, first woman Chief Minister of Delhi in 1998 and the first woman spokesperson for any national political party in the country.

Sushma Swaraj’s love for the country was apparent in her last words on a public platform which she tweeted just hours before her demise. Thanking Prime Narendra Modi after Centre’s move to revoke the special status for Jammu and Kashmir secured Parliament’s approval, the BJP Stalwart had said, she was waiting to see this day in her lifetime. And see she did.