NEW DELHI: Watched by political leaders cutting across party lines, Bansuri Swaraj, her lawyer father Swaraj Kaushal by her side, performed the last rites for her mother, senior BJP leader and former foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, at the Lodhi Crematorium on Wednesday. The popular politician, the first woman chief minister of Delhi, had died suddenly of cardiac arrest late on Tuesday.
At the crematorium, where the mortal remains of 67-year-old Swaraj were consigned to the flames, were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, veteran BJP stalwart L K Advani and Congress leader Anand Sharma. Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and several leaders of the ruling National Democratic Alliance as well as the Opposition were also present. The mood was sombre with mourners moist-eyed even as they recalled her eventful public career.
Earlier there was a string of visitors at her residence on Jantar Mantar Road, where her body had been taken on Tuesday night from AIIMS after a team of doctors there had tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate her after she suffered a cardiac arrest. People from all walks of life had reached 6 Jantar Mantar Road on hearing the news.
Reflecting the warm relations she shared with most political rivals, leaders from numerous parties queued up to pay their respects. Among them were President Ram Nath Kovind, former PM Manmohan Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Other prominent visitors were Samajwadi Party’s Ramgopal Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Mayawati and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia. Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi also was also there to pay homage.
Among others who were there to mourn her death were Trinamool Congress leader Derek O' Brien, yoga guru Ramdev, BJP MP Hema Malini and Kerala's former chief minister Oommen Chandy.
Around noon on Wednesday, the former Union minister’s casket was taken from her residence to the BJP headquarters in an ambulance. The queues at the party office were longer than the ones at her residence and people waited soberly to get a glimpse of the leader for the last time. Swaraj’s party national working president JP Nadda and her long-time party colleagues gave her a tearful farewell.
In the afternoon, around 3pm, defence minister Rajnath Singh, Nadda, Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal and others BJP seniors lifted the body into the flower-bedecked hearse for the journey to Lodhi Crematorium. Many jostled for a last glimpse of the casket, which was shrouded in the national flag. Others tried to capture images on their mobile phones from the main hall of the party headquarters and outside as the van rolled across the street.
Hundreds of people were present at the crematorium when Swaraj’s mortal remains were consigned to flames. Her husband, who began his political career with her in the 1970s in the socialist movement and who was governor of Mizoram in 1990-93, helped daughter Bansuri perform the cremation rites.
Right through Wednesday, as it been soon after AIIMS had announced her death around 11pm on Tuesday, Twitter was flooded with messages of political leaders, social activists and thousands of citizens, recalling her life and career, her motherly approach to foreign affair problems and her friendly demeanour as a politician.
At the crematorium, where the mortal remains of 67-year-old Swaraj were consigned to the flames, were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, veteran BJP stalwart L K Advani and Congress leader Anand Sharma. Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and several leaders of the ruling National Democratic Alliance as well as the Opposition were also present. The mood was sombre with mourners moist-eyed even as they recalled her eventful public career.
Earlier there was a string of visitors at her residence on Jantar Mantar Road, where her body had been taken on Tuesday night from AIIMS after a team of doctors there had tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate her after she suffered a cardiac arrest. People from all walks of life had reached 6 Jantar Mantar Road on hearing the news.
Reflecting the warm relations she shared with most political rivals, leaders from numerous parties queued up to pay their respects. Among them were President Ram Nath Kovind, former PM Manmohan Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Other prominent visitors were Samajwadi Party’s Ramgopal Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Mayawati and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia. Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi also was also there to pay homage.
Among others who were there to mourn her death were Trinamool Congress leader Derek O' Brien, yoga guru Ramdev, BJP MP Hema Malini and Kerala's former chief minister Oommen Chandy.
Around noon on Wednesday, the former Union minister’s casket was taken from her residence to the BJP headquarters in an ambulance. The queues at the party office were longer than the ones at her residence and people waited soberly to get a glimpse of the leader for the last time. Swaraj’s party national working president JP Nadda and her long-time party colleagues gave her a tearful farewell.
In the afternoon, around 3pm, defence minister Rajnath Singh, Nadda, Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal and others BJP seniors lifted the body into the flower-bedecked hearse for the journey to Lodhi Crematorium. Many jostled for a last glimpse of the casket, which was shrouded in the national flag. Others tried to capture images on their mobile phones from the main hall of the party headquarters and outside as the van rolled across the street.
Hundreds of people were present at the crematorium when Swaraj’s mortal remains were consigned to flames. Her husband, who began his political career with her in the 1970s in the socialist movement and who was governor of Mizoram in 1990-93, helped daughter Bansuri perform the cremation rites.
Right through Wednesday, as it been soon after AIIMS had announced her death around 11pm on Tuesday, Twitter was flooded with messages of political leaders, social activists and thousands of citizens, recalling her life and career, her motherly approach to foreign affair problems and her friendly demeanour as a politician.
Quick Links
Lok Sabha Election Schedule 2019Lok Sabha Election NewsDelhi Capitals teamMI team 2019Rajasthan Royals 2019RCB team 2019Maharashtra Lok Sabha ConstituenciesBJP Candidate ListBJP List 2019 TamilnaduShiv Sena List 2019AP BJP List 2019Mamata BanerjeeBJP List 2019 MaharashtraPriyanka GandhiBJP List 2019 KarnatakaAMMK Candidate List 2019BJP List 2019 WBLok Sabha Elections in Tamil NaduBSP List 2019 UPNews in TamilLok Sabha Poll 2019Satta Matka 2018PM ModiMahagathbandhanNagpur BJP Candidate ListChandrababu NaiduTamil Nadu ElectionsUrmila MatondkarNews in TeluguMadras High CourtTejashwi YadavArvind KejriwalTejasvi SuryaPawan KalyanArvind KejriwalYogi AdityanathJaya PradaSatta King 2019Srinagar encounter
Get the app