Bharatiya Janata Party’s Telangana unit had originally planned to celebrate the successful abrogation of Article 370 for Jammu & Kashmir by its government in Delhi but the sudden death of former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj forced the leaders to turn it into a sombre condolence meeting on Wednesday.
Paying glowing tributes to Ms. Swaraj and after garlanding her photo, senior party leaders including party chief K. Laxman, former Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, N. Indrasena Reddy and others recalled their association with the departed leader and her contribution towards the formation of Telangana State. “The country has lost a great leader and it is difficult to believe she is no more. The void left by her cannot be filled. Every post she held, whether in the party of the government, she held it with distinction. She was not only the youngest woman Cabinet Minister but also the first woman party president in Haryana,” said Mr. Laxman.
He also mentioned about her empathy with the workers facing problems in the Gulf and efforts made to bring them back. “She had a special bond with Telangana and fully supported the statehood movement. At one time she had also appealed to the youth not to take extreme steps as the formation of TS was inevitable,” he said and pointed out that he had the privilege of translating her speeches during the elections.
Senior leader Mr. Dattatreya too echoed his sentiments and said reminisced his interaction with her over the years as a cabinet colleague. He also stated that the former External Affairs Minister played a big role in bringing around parties to support the Telangana statehood issue when the debate was all heated up in the Parliament.
“It was only because of her initiative that we got an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Bhongir during Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure as Chief Minister by converting the existing NIMS centre there,” he added.