The Last Night, when everyone was celebrating a historic victory over the Kashmir issue and sharing memes, there was someone who was struggling for life. It is none other than the former external affairs minister of India, Sushma Swaraj. Most people started their day with the news of her death and it was a major shock for every Indian who admire her for being a spectacular personality. When it comes to politics, she is irreplaceable as she is the first and only woman who was honored with an outstanding parliamentarian award. Nobody can forget her role and contribution to the ruling party BJP, where she became the first woman chief minister. We will definitely discuss her achievements in detail, but first, let us have a quick review of her personal life and background.
Awards:
- Best Speaker Award
- Best Parliamentarian Award in 2008 and 2010
- Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.
Sushma Swaraj Background
She belongs to a family of social workers as her father Hardev Sharma, himself was a prominent member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and initially, her name was Sushma Sharma. She basically belongs to Ambala where she was born on August 14, 1952. She completed her graduation from the SD College of Ambala where she chose political science as the main subject. At SD College, she received the best student award in 1970. After completing her graduation she moved to the University of Chandigarh to pursue her degree course in LLB. Apart from the studies, she was also interested in classical music, drama, poetry, and literature.
Sushma Swaraj at College
- At college, she remained the best N.C.C. cadet for continuously three years.
- Also, she won the best speaker award at the state level competition, again for three years
- There is no count of awards and honors she won on the field of debates, recitations, rhetoric, and other such competitions.
- After that, she remained the president for Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, this time, for four years.
In 1975, she was married to criminal lawyer Mr. Swaraj Kaushal and changed her name to Sushma Swaraj. Her husband was a senior advocate at the Supreme Court. In 1990, her husband becomes the Governor of Mizoram and they left for Mizoram. Her husband, by the way, was the youngest Governor of India and served from 1990 to 1993. After that, he became a Member of Parliament in 1998 and served his state till 2004. They have a daughter named Bansuri Kaushal, who also is a barrister and graduated from Oxford University. Let us now come to her political life and remember how she started her career.
How She Entered Politics?
She was working as an advocate after completing her LLB and did not directly enter into mainstream politics at the start. Nevertheless, she was active in student politics as a student. She participated in the protests against Indira Gandhi Govt. after the Emergency. It was because of her keen interest in politics that she got acquainted with the Janata Party where she became the First Woman CM of Delhi and remained the best opposition leader when Congress was the ruling party as she was the only woman who represented her party. Being a member of the Janata party, she became the state president of Haryana at the age of 27.
The journey of Sushma Swaraj with Bharatiya Janata Party
Sushma Swaraj remained one of the leading members of the National Executive of the Janata Party for four years.
She remained the state president of Haryana for four years. It sounds like she has a special love for these numbers. She has achieved a lot in her 67 years of a lifetime but is still not enough as we wanted her to win more honors for herself as well as for our country as she represented India being the external affairs minister. Here is the list of her accomplishments and achievements:
| YEAR | ACHIEVEMENTS |
| 1977 | Became The Cabinet Minister Of Haryana |
| 1987 | Re-elected as The Cabinet Minister |
| 1990 | Became Member of Rajya Sabha |
| 1996 | Became the Member of Lok Sabha for II Term |
| 1996 | Union Cabinet Minister |
| 1998 | Member of Lok Sabha for III TERM |
| 1998 | First Woman CM of Delhi |
| 1998 | MLA from Hauz Khas Assembly |
| 2000 | Re-elected as Rajya Sabha Member |
| 2000-2003 | Minister of Information and Broadcasting |
| 2003-2004 | Minister of Health and Family Welfare
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs |
| 2006 | Member of Rajya Sabha for V Term |
| 2009 | Member of 15thLok Sabha VI Term |
| 2009 | Deputy leader of Opposition |
| 2009 | Replaced LK Adwani and became the first woman Leader of Opposition |
| 2014 | Union Minister of External Affairs |
Apart from fulfilling these roles with utmost perfection, she has won all hearts with her decisions and changes which she brought in her sessions. Sushma Swaraj is the one who took the revolutionary step of the live broadcast of Lok Sabha Debates. She is the one who used Twitter for connecting with the public and opened a way where the public can interact with her and offer their opinions.
We also respect her contribution to the development of a better society as she holds membership in the Hindi Salahakar Samiti of Ministry of Law and Justice, Committee of Information and Broadcasting, Committee of Ministry of Communications, Library Committee, Consultative Committee of Human Resource Development, and many more.
Her role in Indian Politics is major and we will always respect her for that. May her soul rest in peace, and may we meet more personalities like her in the future.
