A politician respected beyond the boundaries of state, Sushma Swaraj was born on February 14, 1953 in Ambala Cantt, Haryana. Her father was a RSS member therefore she was born and brought up in a political atmosphere. A BA-LLB graduate from Panjab University, she had her first brush with politics when she joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in 1970’s. She married Swaraj Kaushal who was a criminal and a senior advocate of the supreme in 1975. Swaraj Kaushal became the youngest Governor in the country in 1990. He became the governor of Mizoram from 1990-1993.

With her political career spanning over four decades, the iconic stature in the Indian politics, Swaraj debuted in electoral politics as a member of Janta Party in 1977. Full of vigour and enthusiasm, she became the youngest member of Cabinet from Haryana assembly, given the charge of Labour and Employment. She became the member of the Bhartiya Janta Party in 1984 where he was appointed as the party secretary. Due to her leadership qualities, success followed her and soon she became the General Secretary. Live telecasting the Lok Sabha debates as the Union cabinet Minister for Information and Broadcasting, she took a revolutionary step, by making it easily accessible for the people under the 13-day government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996.

The leader par excellence, Sushma Swaraj was a seven time Member of Parliament and three times MLA. She was the fifth Chief Minister of Delhi serving the term for two months in 1998 since she could hold it no longer. Being a fluent orator, Swaraj contested against Sonia Gandhi in Karnataka (Bellary) in 1999 elections. It helped the BJPN in creating a strong base in Bellary and the adjoining districts where the party wa a no-entity. Her success went unabated with the return of NDA in 2000 since she was sent to Rajya Sabha. She served as a minister of Information and Broadcasting from September 2000 to January 2003, both Health and Parliamentary Affairs from January 2003 to May 2004.

Under the Modi 1.0 government in 2014, she was given the charge of Foreign Ministry. She was the second female leader, after Indira Gandhi to hold the office as a full time in-charge. Swaraj regularly met her foreign counterparts that made her a leader beyond the political borders. Referred to as the ‘Supermom’ of India by the Washington Post, she helped the distressed Indians around the world. Being the tech-savy leader of her time, her digital diplomacy helped her to conduct her business via he social platforms. She used twitter as a tool to reach out to people and her wit always on point formed a huge fan following for her.

Due to her detiorating health conditions she stepped down from contesting the elections for the second phase of Modi government. She was very happy with centre’s move to revoke Article 370. Leaving behind a rich legacy of love, her last tweet stated, “Narendra Modi ji- Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my life time.” And her last words on twitter shall ring in the ears of generations to come.

The sad demise took place on 6 August, 2019 due to a cardiac arrest. She was truly a people’s leader – of the people, by the people and for the people. The heart breaking news took the nation by shock since it is a great loss for the nation. She has been an inspiration for many and shall continue to touch the lives of millions of Indians as the nation pours out condolences.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Sushma Ji’s demise is a personal loss. She will be remembered fondly for everything she’s done for India. My thoughts are with her family, supporters and admirers in this very unfortunate hour. Om shanti.”