Sushma Swaraj, 67, external affairs minister in the Narendra Modi government’s first term, who passed away on Tuesday night, was an extremely popular figure in the nation’s public life even after she had ceased to hold office.
This was due to her capabilities, gentleness, and moderate stance in politics even when times grew more extreme. She was in that sense more suited to the Atal Behari Vajpayee brand in the RSS-BJP, now a rapidly shrinking entity.
Ms Swaraj began her political journey as a young Lohia socialist, and could not in her public actions summon communalism as a vessel of self-promotion. As external affairs minister, she was viciously trolled by the Internet army of communal fanatics — whose followers include the highest in the land — for helping a Muslim couple of UP secure passports,
The deceased leader had been a forceful parliamentarian and debater of the first rank. She had briefly been chief minister of Delhi, and later a very effective Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha in UPA period. Yet, she wasn’t allowed to flower as external affairs minister when the BJP came to power. The Prime Minister laid down not just policy but undertook all significant travel himself, even before his foreign minister grew visibly weak after her kidney transplant in 2016.
Ms Swaraj was left to occasionally fill in the blanks. She sought to make her mark through Twitter by helping out citizens in need of passports and hapless Pakistani nationals desperately seeking an Indian visa on an emergency basis. Ms Swaraj will be remembered for her acute understanding of politics as well as her humane side and for her innate decency.
