Sushma Swaraj, former union minister and one of the BJP’s tallest leaders, has died at 67, Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences said late this evening. Ms Swaraj was rushed to the hospital by her family at 9.50 pm today after she was taken ill.
A number of her party colleagues and ministers have already reached AIIMS. Among the first to arrive were Nitin Gadkari, Dr Harshvardhan, Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani.
The 67-year-old had not been keeping well lately, which is why she had not contested the recently held Lok Sabha election and opted out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new government.
Earlier this evening, Sushma Swaraj had tweeted congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation bill in parliament.
“Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime,” her tweet read.
The foreign minister — loved as much for her quick response to distress messages on Twitter as for her mellow sense of humour – had moved out of her official residence in June.
The same month, she had tweeted to dispel rumours that she had been appointed Governor of Andhra Pradesh. Her clarification came after Union Minister Harsh Vardhan triggered speculation when he congratulated her in a tweet.
A nine-time parliamentarian followed by nearly 12.8 million people on Twitter, Sushma Swaraj became the youngest minister of a state back in 1977.
She has been the chief minister of Delhi, and held the portfolios of information and broadcasting, and health in the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
