Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away in AIIMS yesterday night following a cardiac arrest. She was taken to the emergency ward of the hospital late last night. She had a kidney transplant in 2016 and did not contest the elections on health grounds.
She is survived by her husband Swaraj Kaushal and daughter Bansuri. She was 67. She studied Law at Punjab University and began practicing in the Supreme Court in 1973. She joined the BJP after the emergency. She was elected to the 11th Lok Sabha in 1996 and became the Minister for Information and Broadcasting. She held the post again from 2000 to 2003. She was the External Affairs Minister in the Modi Government from 2014 to May 2019. She became the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi in 1998. She was also the first woman politician to be Leader of the Opposition in Parliament in 2009.
