India Today – August 19, 2019

18 INDIATODAY AUGUST 19, 2019

I

n1999,SushmaSwaraj
contestedfromBellary,
Karnataka—thiswas
whentheBharatiya
JanataPartywasnotwell
knowninthestateandno
onehadheardofeitherthe
BJPorSushmaSwaraj.The
battlewasatoughone.She
wastakingonSoniaGandhi
ofthewell-entrenched
Congressparty,butSwaraj
wasquicktoembracethe
challenge.Sheengagedtwo
tutorstoteachherKan-
nadaand,usingallher
skillsandphotographic
memory,withinafortnight
shewasaddressingralliesin
fluentKannada.Iperson-
allycheckedwithafewlocal
journalistsonherKannada
andeveryoneagreedthatshe
reallydidpullitoff.Herdic-
tionandchoiceofwordswere
perfect.Andthoughshelost
byjustabout50,000votes,
shewonmanyhearts.
Swarajtookonevery
role—parliamentarian,
partyworker,minister—with
adoggeddetermination,per-
sistenceandhonestywhich
wasuniquelyhers.
In2009,theparty
decidedthatSwarajwas
amongthestalwartswho
wouldcampaignbutnot
contest,butonthisoccasion
shemadeherpreferences
clearandwasallowedto

contest.Shestoodfrom

VidishainMadhyaPradesh

andwon.Thoughtheparty

sufferedascathingdefeat,

winningjust 116 seats,the

BJPhadcomealongway,up

fromjusttwomembersof

Parliamentin1984.Thiswas

partlybecauseoftheefforts

oftheteam,whichincluded

Swaraj,pickedbyL.K.

Advaniinthemid-1980sto

buildtheBJP’sparliamen-

tarystrengthtoatargetof

200 MPs.Theothermem-

berswereNarendraModi,

PramodMahajan,Venkaiah

Naidu,ArunJaitley,Ananth

KumarandGovindacharya.

Sheplayedacrucialrolein

buildingthepartywhereshe

waswidelyregardedasan

indulgent‘didi’.

Thesameyear,Swaraj

alsotookchargeasleader

ofOppositionintheLok

SabhafromAdvani,fiercely

articulatingtheirpointof

viewandholdingtheruling

governmentaccountable.

Thiswasatatimewhen

severalscandals,suchasthe

coalandtelecomscams,were

rockingParliamentdaily.A

giftedorator,particularlyin

Hindi—consideredbymany

tobeinthesameleague

asAtalBihariVajpayee—

Swarajcommunicatedthe

party’sstancewithprecision.

In1998,whenVajpayee

askedhertotakeoveras

thechiefministerofDelhi,

Swarajwasreluctantto

movefromnationaltostate-

levelpolitics,buttookupthe

challengeallthesame.

Amongthemany‘firsts’

tohercredit,Swarajhad

thedistinctionofbeingthe

youngest-everministerat

25,theminimumprescribed

age.Shewasthefirst-ever

womanspokespersonofa

nationalpartyandthefirst

womantobeappointedas

a full-time external affairs

minister of India.

As foreign minister,

she broke the mould. The

profile does not entail any

interaction with people,

but she changed that and

became the first minister

to use social media to make

herself more accessible. In-

dians from across the world

reached out to her and were

seldom disappointed.

Swaraj was Indian to

the core, but global in her

outlook. She was a full-time

politician and career woman

and also a family woman,

embodying Indian tradi-

tions and culture. Irreplace-

able, Swaraj will always be a

role model to all those who

wish to join public life. n

Balbir Punj is a

two-time MP and a former

colleague of Sushma Swaraj

The People’s

Minister

OBITUARY

UPFRONT

By Balbir Punj

Sushma Swaraj

played a crucial

role in building

the BJP, where

she was widely

regarded as an

indulgent ‘didi’

SUSHMA SWARAJ 1952-

REUBEN SINGH