NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader and former foreign minister Sushma Swaraj passed away after a massive cardiac arrest here late on Tuesday evening. She was 67.
The popular politician, who made the foreign ministry accessible through social media, had health complications arising from diabetes, but was not suffering from any immediate health emergency. She underwent a kidney transplant in 2016 and despite a few spells of hospitalisation, was understood to be getting better.
Sources said Swaraj was doing well till afternoon but around 9.30pm, she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. She was rushed to AIIMS at 9.45pm. However, Swaraj couldn’t be revived. “She is no more,” AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria confirmed to TOI at 11pm.
An acute diabetic, the BJP leader had tweeted about her kidney failure in 2016. She was admitted to AIIMS on November 7. After she made public her health condition on social media, several people offered their kidneys to her.
There was an outpouring of condolences, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeting, “India grieves the demise of a remarkable leader who devoted her life to public service ... Sushma Swaraj ji was one of her kind, who was a source of inspiration for crores of people.”
BJP president Amit Shah condoled her death and called it an "irreparable" loss. He recalled her role as leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, saying she was a "forceful voice of BJP" in the House. “A powerful orator, she left an indelible mark as a popular leader,” he added.
Swaraj’s long-term colleague and former finance minister Arun Jaitley said he was “saddened, pained and broken on demise of Sushmaji”. “She was one of the most outstanding politicians in the present era. She distinguished in all positions. She leaves behind a void which is difficult to fill,” he added.
Other BJP leaders and those from the opposition expressed shock and grief. President Ram Nath Kovind also offered his condolences.
Swaraj did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls having ruled herself out of electoral politics. Her health and the decision to bid goodbye to the electoral arena were seen to be reasons for her exclusion from the new Modi cabinet that took oath after the BJP repeated its feat of scoring a majority.
She continued to follow current events closely and congratulated the government for its success in nullifying the provisions of Article 370. Soon after Lok Sabha approved the measure on Tuesday, she tweeted, “Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime.”
Ironically, she was rushed to AIIMS after a medical emergency hours later. The doctors worked to revive her but failed and finally declared that the former minister had passed away.
Swaraj had a glittering political career, beginning as an MLA in Haryana in 1977. A native of Ambala, she started as a socialist but gravitated towards BJP where she rose swiftly to become an effective campaigner and public speaker, much in demand at election time. She held portfolios at the Centre, being information and broadcasting and parliamentary affairs minister in the Vajpayee government.