Sushma Swaraj, India’s former external affairs minister and a senior member of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has died at the age of 67.
She was the external affairs minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet from 2014 to 2019.
At 3 pm tomorrow, the mortal remains of the former foreign minister will be taken to Lodhi road crematorium where her last rites will be performed with full state honours.
Swaraj was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in a critical condition today evening. She was brought to AIIMS at 10:15 pm by her family and was straight away taken to the emergency ward.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Dr Harshvardhan, Prahalad Singh Patel, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Anurag Thakur are present at the AIIMS.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled her death and tweeted: “A glorious chapter in Indian politics comes to an end. India grieves the demise of a remarkable leader who devoted her life to public service & bettering lives of poor. Sushma Swaraj Ji was one of her kind, who was a source of inspiration for crores of people.”
The Congress offered its condolences and tweeted, “We are saddened to hear about the untimely demise of Smt Sushma Swaraj. Our condolences to her family and loved ones.”
Sushma Swaraj, who had a kidney transplant in 2016, had opted out of the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year citing health reasons.
Swaraj had put out a tweet in the evening congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Centre’s bold move to revoke special status for Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the border state into two Union Territories secured Parliament’s approval.
“Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime,” she said.
The foreign minister was a much loved and respected personality for her quick response to distress messages on Twitter.
She was succeeded by former foreign secretary S Jaishankar as the new External Affairs Minister in the second term of Modi government.
Meanwhile, the mortal remains of the former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was taken from AIIMS to her Delhi residence, where they will be kept tonight for people to pay last respects. Around 12 pm tomorrow, her mortal remains will be brought to the BJP headquarters. At 3 pm she will be taken to Lodhi road crematorium where her last rites will be performed with full state honours.
