There were times when women were not allowed to even go out of the house. However, today women are making their mark in each field. These days, women are taking care of their homes as well as working outside in their respective fields. Her contribution is not limited only to their family but also to the development of society and human beings.
BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj was a personality who will always be remembered for being an apt homemaker and an inspiring political personality. It will not be erroneous if we say that she dedicated her life to Indian politics.
Sushma Swaraj Biography
Sushma Swaraj was born on February 14, 1952, in Ambala, Haryana. She began her carrier as a lawyer in Supreme Court. Her maiden family consisted of 5 members. She was born to Hardev Sharma (father) and Laxmi Devi (mother). She has one brother (Gulshan Sharma) and one sister (Vandana Sharma).
Sushma Swaraj completed her education at Sanatan Dharma College in Ambala where she earned a bachelor’s degree. She was outstanding in extracurricular activities. Some of her interests included classical music, poetry, and drama. She won the best Hindi Speaker award for three consecutive years in a state-level competition held by the Language Department of Haryana. She also won various awards of distinction in debates, contests, dramas, and other cultural activities. In 1973, She completed her law degree at Punjab University and started practicing law in the Supreme Court of India.
In 1975, she got married to Swaraj Kaushal. She served in several legislative and administrative posts in Haryana and other parts of India. She was the Minister of External Affairs until May 30, 2019. Below are some facts related to her personal life.
- Sushma Swaraj’s age as in 2019 was 67 years.
- Her husband was Swaraj Kaushal who is also a lawyer and politician and served a term from 1990 to 1993 as a governor of Mizoram.
- Sushma Swaraj’s daughter, Bansuri Swaraj is also a criminal lawyer.
- Her parents are from Lahore, Pakistan. They came to India after independence.
Political Career of Sushma Swaraj
- Sushma started her political career through RSS with ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) in the 1970s.
- Sushma Swaraj was a member of the National Executive of Janata Party for four years. In these years, she held the position of President in Janata Party in Haryana.
- She remained the all India Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party for two years.
- In 1977, she was the first person who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Haryana and she became the Cabinet Minister in Haryana. She was the youngest Cabinet Minister in India and held eight portfolios (including Labour, Social Welfare, and Employment) from 1977 to 1979.
- In 1987, Sushma was re-elected from the Haryana Legislative Assembly. This time, she became the Cabinet Minister and held the portfolios of Civil Supplies, Food and, Education from 1987 to 1990.
- In 1990, Sushma Swaraj was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
- Her constituency was in South Delhi where she became a member of the 11th Lok Sabha for the second term in 1996.
- In 1996, she became the union cabinet minister for Information and Broadcasting. That time she took a revolutionary step of live telecasting of Lok Sabha debates during the 13-day government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
- In 1998, she was re-elected as a Member of the 12th Lok Sabha for the third term.
- She became the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi from October 13 to December 3, 1998.
- She was elected an MLA from the Hauz Khas Assembly constituency of the Delhi Assembly in November 1998. However, she resigned from there to retain the Lok Sabha seat.
- In April 2000, she was again elected as a Rajya Sabha member.
- She remained the Minister of Information and Broadcasting from September 30, 2000, to January 29, 2003.
- From January 29, 2003, to May 22, 2004, she was the Minister of Health and Family Welfare & Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.
- She was re-elected as a member of Rajya Sabha for the fifth term in April 2006.
- On May 16, 2009, Sushma was elected as a member of the 15th Lok Sabha for the sixth term.
- Sushma Swaraj became the first woman leader in the opposition after replacing LK Advani on December 21, 2009.
- She became the Union Minister for External Affairs in India on May 26, 2014.
- She was nominated to the panel of Vice-Chairmen of Rajya Sabha.
Controversies
- In 2011, she seems like dancing at Mahatma Gandhi’s Samadhi while on a protest at Rajghat, as a result, the visuals were shown on television.
- In 2015, she confessed that she took favors in getting her daughter admitted to a medical college.
- She helped former IPL chief Lalit Modi in procuring documents to travel to Portugal however BJP came out and supported her.
Achievements
- She held the record of becoming the first woman spokesperson of a national-level political party.
- In 1977, Sushma Swaraj became the youngest Cabinet Minister in India at the age of 25 years.
- In 1979, she became the Janata Party’s State President in Haryana at the age of 27 years.
- She was the first woman Chief Minister.
- Sushma was the first woman Union Cabinet Minister as well.
Awards
- She was rewarded as the Best Speaker award by the Haryana State Assembly.
- She received an award for Best Parliamentarian in 2008 & 2010 and became the first and the only woman MP to receive this award.
- Sushma Swaraj received a prestigious award of “Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit” from Spain government for India’s efforts in rescuing Spanish nationals during the Nepal earthquake.
Sushma Swaraj’s Death
On 6 August 2019, Indians could not believe the news that Sushma Swaraj took her last breath on that fateful day. She succumbed to a cardiac arrest in AIIMS, Delhi. She is survived by her daughter Bansuri Swaraj. Sushma Swaraj was an epitome of empowered women. She proved her mettle in the time when females were not even much educated and were not allowed to go out of their house for work.
It is hard to believe that during past times, when women were not even aware of their rights, women like Sushma Swaraj walked into politics (despite not having a political background). From the first woman chief minister to the first woman foreign minister, she made every record in her name. She motivated many other women to join politics to help in developing the country.
While her tenure as a foreign minister, she traveled to several countries and took the responsibility of making good relations with them. From her journey, we can learn that there are many things we want to do but we don’t do thinking about others and society, but we often forget that the beginning is important from somewhere.
