- Sushma Swaraj was an Indian lawyer and politician, who served as the Minister of External Affairs of India in the first Narendra Modi government from 2014 to 2019.
- She was the second person to complete a 5-year term as the Minister of External Affairs, after Jawaharlal Nehru.At the age of 25 in 1977.
- she became the youngest cabinet minister of the Indian state of Haryana.
- According to the doctors at AIIMS New Delhi, Swaraj succumbed to a cardiac arrest following a heart attack on the night of 6 August 2019.
- She was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, posthumously in 2020 in the field of Public Affairs.
- Early life and education Sushma Swaraj was born on 14 February 1952 at Ambala Cantonment, Haryana into a Punjabi Hindu Brahmin family, to Hardev Sharma and Shrimati Laxmi Devi.
- Her father was a prominent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh member.
- Her parents hailed from the Dharampura area of Lahore, Pakistan.
- She was educated at Sanatan Dharma College in Ambala Cantonment and earned a bachelor's degree with majors in Sanskrit and Political Science.
- She studied law at Panjab University, Chandigarh.[18][17][19] A state-level competition held by the Language
- Department of Haryana saw her winning the best Hindi Speaker award for three consecutive years. Sushma Swaraj was a strict vegetarian.
- In 1973, Swaraj started practice as an advocate in the Supreme Court of India.She began her political career with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in the 1970s.
- Her husband, Swaraj Kaushal, was closely associated with the socialist leader George Fernandes and Sushma Swaraj became a part of George Fernandes's legal defence team in 1975.
- She actively participated in Jayaprakash Narayan's Total Revolution Movement.
- After the Emergency, she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
- Later, she became a national leader of the BJP.Political career
- 1977–82 Elected as Member, Haryana Legislative Assembly.
- 1977–79 Cabinet Minister, Labour and Employment, Government of Haryana.
- 1987–90 Elected as Member, Haryana Legislative Assembly.
- 1987–90 Cabinet Minister, Education, Food and Civil Supplies, Government of Haryana.
- 1991–1996 Member of Rajya Sabha
- 1996 [16 May – 1 June] – Union Cabinet Minister, Information and Broadcasting.
- 1998-98 [12 October 1998 – 3 December 1998] – Chief Minister of Delhi.
- 2000–06 Member, Rajya Sabha (4th term).
- 2006–09 [April 2006 -] Member, Rajya Sabha (5th term).
- 2009–14 [16 May 2009 – 18 May 2014] Member, 15th Lok Sabha (6th term).
- 2009-09 [3 June 2009 – 21 December 2009] Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
- 2009–2014 [21 December 2009 – 26 May 2014] Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
- 2014–2019 [26 May 2014 – 24 May 2019] Member, 16th Lok Sabha (7th term).
- 2014–2019 [26 May 2014 – 29 May 2019] Minister of External Affairs in the Union of India.
| Name of awards | year of awarded |
|---|---|
| Outstanding Parliamentarian Award | 2010 |
| Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) | 2019 |
| Politician of the Year Award | 2017 |
| U Thant Peace Award | 2019 |