Sushma Swaraj passed away

Question: Recently Sushma Swaraj passed away; she represented which Ministry in her last tenure?
(a) Ministry of Finance
(b) Ministry of Defence
(c) Ministry of Civil Aviation
(d) Ministry of External Affairs
Answer: (d)
Related facts:

  • Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away on August 6, 2019 following a cardiac arrest at AIIMS in Delhi.She was 67.
  • Born on 14th February, 1952 in Ambala Cantt, Haryana, she was an Indian politician and a Supreme Court lawyer.

Political Life of Sushma Swaraj:

  • She was senior leader of Bhartiya Janata Party. She was elected seven times as a Member of Parliament and three times as a Member of the Legislative Assembly.
  • Swaraj served as the Minister of External Affairs of India in the first Narendra Modi government (2014 – 2019).
  • Also,she was the second woman to hold the portfolio of External Affairs Minister, after Indira Gandhi.
  • She served as Member of Parliament from Vidisha constituency (2009-2019) in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
  • At the age of 25 in 1977, she became the youngest cabinet minister in the Janata Party Government headed by then Chief Minister Devi Lal in the Indian State of Haryana. She won the Legislative Assembly election from Ambala Cantonment constituency.
  • She was Education Minister of Haryana state in the Bharatiya Janata Party-Lok Dal coalition government during the period of 1987 to 1990.
  • In October 1998 she resigned from the Union Cabinet to take over as the first female Chief Minister of Delhi (5th CM of Delhi ) for a short duration.
  • She was Minister of Health, Family Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs from January 2003 until May 2004 in Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
  • As Union Health Minister, she set up six All India Institute of Medical Sciences at Bhopal (MP), Bhubaneshwar (Odisha), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Patna (Bihar), Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Rishikesh (Uttrakhand).
  • Sushma Swaraj became Leader of Opposition in the 15th Lok Sabha.
  • She is the Indian Parliament’s first and the only female MP honored with the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.
  • She decided not to contest the 2019 General Elections due to health reasons.

Links:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sushma-swaraj-death-political-leaders-pay-tribute/article28839552.ece
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/sushma-swaraj-death-former-external-affairs-minister-to-be-cremated-at-lodhi-crematorium-with-full-state-honours/story/370997.html
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/irreparable-loss-lk-advani-condoles-sushma-swarajs-death-5884317/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushma_Swaraj
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Party