Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away in Delhi following a cardiac arrest. She was admitted to AIIMS earlier today. She was the first woman external affairs minister of India.
The 67-
Swaraj served as the Minister of External Affairs of India from 26 May 2014 to 30 May 2019. She was elected seven times as a member of parliament and three times as a member of the legislative assembly.
Her most notable political battle was the one against the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Bellary in 1999 Lok Sabha polls. She was her party’s nationalist woman counter to Gandhi, often attacked by the BJP for her Italian origins.
Earlier in the day, Sushma Swaraj greeted Rajya Sabha members who voted in favour of the government’s resolution to scrap Article 370 of the Constitution.
She had undergone treatment for kidney failure in 2016. Citing health reasons, the former minister did not contest the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
प्रधान मंत्री जी – आपका हार्दिक अभिनन्दन. मैं अपने जीवन में इस दिन को देखने की प्रतीक्षा कर रही थी. @narendramodi ji – Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime.
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) August 6, 2019
In a tweet, Swaraj had thanked Prime Minister for everything and also expressed her delight in seeing the passage of the bill to reorganize Jammu and Kashmir. “Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime,” she said.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep S Puri expressed condolences to Sushma’s family & friends.
Extremely shocked & deeply saddened at the sudden & untimely demise of our senior leader & former EAM, Smt Sushma Swaraj Ji.
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) August 6, 2019
My heartfelt condolences to her family & friends.
Om Shanti. pic.twitter.com/12YqDnZnIC
RIP Sushma Swaraj… Om Shanti!
