Sushma Swaraj pronunciation is an Indian politician and the current Minister of External
Affairs in the Union of India. She is the second woman to be India's external affairs
minister, first being the late Indira Gandhi. She has been elected seven times as a Member
of Parliament and three times as a Member of the Legislative Assembly. At the age of
25, she became Haryana's youngest Cabinet Minister and has also served as Chief Minister
of Delhi. In Indian general election, 2014, she won from Vidisha constituency in Madhya
Pradesh. She became the External Affairs Minister in union cabinet on 26 May 2014. She retained
her Vidisha parliamentary seat by over 400.000 votes in the 16th lok Sabha in the general
election held in May 2014.
Early life Sushma Swaraj was born at Ambala Cantt in
a Brahmin family on 14 February 1952. Her father was a prominent RSS member. She was
educated at S. D. College, Ambala Cantonment and earned a Bachelors degree with majors
in Sanskrit and Political Science. She studied law at Punjab University, Chandigarh, and
practised as a Supreme Court of India Advocate from 1973.
Political career Swaraj began her political career with Akhil
Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in the 1970s. She joined the Janata Party movement and campaigned
against The Emergency. She was a member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly from 1977
to 1982 from Ambala Cantonment defeating then-Minister of Defence and four-time Chief Minister of
Haryana Bansi Lal by 63% votes at the age of 25 and then again from 1987 to 90. In July
1977, she was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister in the Janata Party Government headed by Devi
Lal. She became State President of Janata Party in 1979, when she was 27. She was Education
Minister, Haryana in the Bharatiya Janata Party–Lok Dal coalition government during
1987–90. Member of Parliament
In April 1990, she was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha and remained there until
she was elected to the 11th Lok Sabha from South Delhi constituency in 1996. She was
Union Cabinet Minister for Information and Broadcasting during the 13-day Atal Bihari
Vajpayee Government in 1996. During this tenure, she started live telecast of Lok Sabha debates.
Union Minister I&B & Telecommunications She was re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha from
South Delhi Parliamentary constituency for a 2nd term in 1998. Under the second Vajpayee
Government, she was sworn in as Cabinet Minister for Information and Broadcasting with additional
charge of the Ministry of Telecommunications from 19 March to 12 October 1998. Her most
notable decision during this period was to declare film as an industry, which made the
film industry eligible for bank finance. Prior to this, the film industry was financed by
the underworld on heavy rate of interest. This one decision liberated film industry
from the clutches of the underworld. She also started community radio by the Universities
and other institutions. Chief Minister of Delhi
Sushma Swaraj ministry She resigned from the Union Cabinet to take
over as the first female Chief Minister of Delhi in October 1998. BJP lost the Assembly
elections because of rising prices and inflation. She resigned her Assembly seat and returned
to national politics. Contest against Sonia Gandhi
In 1999, BJP nominated her to contest against the Congress party's President, Sonia Gandhi,
from the Bellary constituency in Karnataka, which had always returned Congress winners
since India's independence. During her campaign, she addressed public meetings in Kannada.
She secured 358,000 votes in just 12 days of campaign. However, she lost the election
by a 7% margin. Back in Parliament and Union Cabinet
She returned to Parliament in April 2000 as a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh. She
was allocated to Uttrakhand when the new state was carved out of Uttar Pradesh. She was inducted
into the Union Cabinet as Minister for Information and Broadcasting, which position she held
from September 2000 until January 2003. Union Health Minister
She was Minister of Health, Family Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs from January 2003
until May 2004, when the National Democratic Alliance Government lost the general election.
As Union Health Minister, she set up six AIIMS at Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur
and Rishikesh. Deputy Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha
Swaraj was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 2006 from Madhya Pradesh. She served
as the Deputy leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha till April 2009.
Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha She won the 2009 election to the 15th Lok
Sabha from the Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh by the highest margin of
over 400,000 votes. Sushma Swaraj became Leader of Opposition in the 15th Lok Sabha in place
of Lal Krishna Advani on 21 December 2009 and retained this position till May 2014 when
in Indian general election, 2014 her party got a major victory.
Foreign Minister
Distinctions and records In 1977, she became the youngest ever Cabinet
Minister in the country at 25 years of age. In 1979, she became State President of Janata
Party, Haryana State at the young age of 27. Sushma Swaraj was the first female Spokesperson
of a national political party in India. She has many firsts to her credit as BJPs first
female Chief Minister, Union Cabinet Minister, general secretary, Spokesperson and Leader
of Opposition. She is the Indian Parliament's first and the only female MP honoured with
the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award. She has contested 11 direct elections from four
states. She has been a member of parliament/legislator for 30 years.
Personal life Swaraj is married to Swaraj Kaushal, a senior
advocate of Supreme Court of India and a criminal lawyer who served as Governor of Mizoram from
1990 to 1993. Swaraj Kaushal was a member of parliament from 1998 to 2004. They have
a daughter, Bansuri, who is a graduate from Oxford University and a Barrister at Law from
Inner Temple. Positions held
1977–82 and 1987–90 Elected as Member, Haryana Legislative Assembly.
1977–79 Cabinet Minister, Labour and Employment, Government of Haryana.
1987–90 Cabinet Minister, Education, Food and Civil Supplies, Government of Haryana.
April 1990 Elected to Rajya Sabha(1st term) 1996 Member, Eleventh Lok Sabha(2nd term).
16 May – 1 June 1996 Union Cabinet Minister, Information and Broadcasting.
1998 Member, Twelfth Lok Sabha. 19 March – 12 Oct 1998 Union Cabinet Minister,
Information and Broadcasting and Telecommunications. 13 October – 3 December 1998 Chief Minister
of Delhi. November 1998 Elected from Hauz Khas Assembly
constituency of Delhi Assembly. Resigned from Delhi Assembly and retained Lok Sabha seat.
April 2000 Elected to Rajya Sabha. 30 Sep 2000–29 Jan 2003 Minister of Information
and Broadcasting. 29 Jan 2003 – 22 May 2004 Minister of Health
and Family Welfare and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.
April 2006 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha. 16 May 2009 Elected to the 15th Lok Sabha.
3 June 2009 Elected as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
21 Dec 2009 Leader of the Opposition and replaced Lal Krishna Advani.
26 May 2014 External Affairs Minister in the Union of India
References
External links Official website of BJP
Official Twitter