Born on February 14 in 1952, Swaraj was one of the prominent leaders of the BJP, and served as the Minister of External Affairs from May 2014 to May 2019. She died on August 6, 2019, following a cardiac arrest.
Her candidacy had restored our faith in bureaucracy and had received applause from all around the world. She was one of the most followed foreign ministers on Twitter globally. She was known for helping Indians stuck abroad as she was quick to respond to their calls and even resolved issues while helping them on Twitter. Swaraj even became popular in Pakistan for her response to people waiting to get visas for medical treatment in India.
Fromer MP from Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha constituency, Swaraj was born in Haryana’s Ambala Cantt area in 1952, with her political debut in 1977 when she became MLA from Haryana.
Swaraj was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1990 and since then she became a member of Parliament either in the Upper House or the Lower House.
She was first appointed as Cabinet Minister in 1996 and held the post of Delhi Chief Minister for a short period in 1998. In 2009, she was the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha
She was an epitome of energy, as from becoming the youngest minister in the cabinet of the north Indian state of Haryana to becoming the Member of Parliament for seven times, she did everything to be known as the Iron Lady.
On February 19, 2019, Swaraj received the prestigious Grand Cross of Order of Civil Merit that was conferred by the Government of Spain in recognition of India’s support in evacuating its citizens from Nepal during the massive earthquake of 2015, and this was her continuous support that had helped government to evacuate several people from there.
She earned great admiration for her responsiveness and compassion during her years in the office. During her tenure as External Affairs Minister, she often directly responded to Indians overseas in need of diplomatic response.
Moreover, it was her strong, fearless and fine foreign policy and administrative ability that made her win the common people’s heart and the title of ‘Iron Lady’
