Senior BJP leader and former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away at 67 at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack in the evening.
Sushma Swaraj was brought to AIIMS at around 10:15 PM and was straight away admitted to the emergency ward.
The senior BJP leader’s husband and other family members, including Dr Harshvardhan, Piyush Goyal, Pralhad Joshi and Nitin Gadkari, are now at AIIMS.
It should be noted that she had a kidney transplant in the year 2016 and had also opted out of contesting Lok Sabha polls previously this year for health reasons.
Sushma Swaraj was a significant link between the government and the people. In fact, many political observers viewed Swaraj as a great challenger to PM Narendra Modi in the first couple of months of the government.
Regarded as the top minister during Modi government’s first spell, Sushma Swaraj did not contest this year Lok Sabha elections and also preferred to sit out of the government on account of her health.
After PM Modi’s swearing-in ceremony last month, Sushma Swaraj took to her official Twitter handle to write an emotional message, thanking PM Narendra Modi for giving her the opportunity to hold the office for 5 years.
“Prime Minister, you gave me an opportunity to serve our countrymen and overseas Indians as the Foreign Minister for five years and personally, also, gave me respect throughout my tenure. I am very grateful to you. I pray that our government becomes very successful,” Sushma Swaraj said in her tweet.
Here is how Twitter reacted: