Sushma Swaraj

Sushma Swaraj Biography

•Full name- Sushma Swaraj
•Born- 14th February 1953 in Ambala Cantt Haryana
•Political Party- Bharitya Janata Party (BJP)
•Spouse- Swaraj Kaushal
•Residence- Official Address: 8, Safdarjung Lane,New Delhi - 110 011
•Residence – Permanent: C-7, Civil Lines, Prof. Colony,Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
•Presently in office- Leader of the Opposition in Loksabha
•Post held (incumbent)-  Minister of Information and Broadcasting (30 September 2000 – 29 January 2003)
•Chief Minister of Delhi (13 October 1998 – 3 December 1998)
•Minister of Information broadcasting and Telecommunications  (19 March 1998 – 12 October 1998)
•Minister of Information and Broadcasting (16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996)
•Haryana State Minister for Labor and Employment (1977–1979)

 Sushma Swaraj is undoubtedly one of the most seasoned and at the same time astute parliamentarians of our time. As an individual she created a distinctive niche for herself in politics.  At the same time she also achieved many distinctions for her contribution as a parliamentarian. A pivotal member of the Bharitya Janata Party she considered as the prominent next line in the party that is looking for some inspiration in terms of political leadership.

Sushma Swaraj early Life- Sushma Swaraj was born in Palwal in Haryana on the 14th of February 1953 to Hardev Sharma and Laxmi Devi.  She finished her graduation in BA (English) from the SD College. She was a literally a child prodigy with a keen sense of thinking and blessed with a phenomenal memory power and at the same time also gifted with powerful and proficient oratory skills.  She won the gold medal on completion of the her LLB from the Punjab University in Chandigarh. From her student days she was actively involved in politics in the 1970’s. In the early part of  her career he was also part of many protest against the Indira Gandhi.

Sushma Swaraj Political Career- She started her political career as a member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly. She was one of the youngest members in the assembly at the time at 25. She served as Cabinet Minister for Labor and Employment. She was at time a Janta Dal MLA in Devi lal Government.  She then became part of the Bharitya Janata Party. After she served as a cabinet Minister of  Education  Food and Civil Supplies in the combined Lok Dal- BJP government under the Devi Lal Governement (1987- 90) She was adjudged of the Best Speaker of the Haryana State Assembly for three years in a row.

She contested in the Loksabha Elections in 1980, 1984 and 1989 but was beaten by Chiranji Lal Sharma. But this is no way deemed her and a successful career in parliament was awaiting her.  In 1990 she was elected to the Rajya Sabha. In 1996 she was elected from the South Delhi Constituency in the Lok Sabha Election and served her as first terms as Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the 13 day Atal Bihari government.  In 1998 she was re elected and held the Ministry for  Education and Broadcasting. She however left the Union Cabinet and served as the Chief Minister of Delhi for a brief stinct. She again returned to national politics in 1999 and contested from the same constituency  which the Congress President Sonia Gandhi contested and lost securing almost 3,58,000 votes. In 2008 she again returned into mainstream politics as a Rajya Sabha Member from Uttarkhand Constituency. 

She again served as the Minister for Information and Broadcasting from September 2000 to January 2003 and thereafter was entrusted with the Health and Family and Parliamentary Affairs Portfolio.  However the BJP lost the 2004 General election . At the that time she made headlines for her highly sensationalized statement  that she would dress in white shave off her hair , eat grams and sleep on the floor if foreign born Sonia Gandhi would be made PM. She continued to serve in the latter year as the deputy Speaker of the Rajya Sabha. In the 2009 General Election she was elected from the Vidisha Constituency in Madhya Pradesh and recorded and a thumping 4.1 lakhs votes victory. She was then elected as the Leader of the Opposition Parties in the Lok Sabha.

Sushma Swaraj Personal life- She is married to Swaraj Kushal who is a senior advocate at the Supreme Court and is also a criminal Lawyer.  He served as the Governor of Mizoram from 1990-93 and was the youngest governor to do so.  Their own child is Bhansuri Swaraj is a graduate from Oxford University and is a barrister at law in the Inner temple. She is also a practicing Criminal Lawyer at the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court.  Apart politics Sushma Swaraj’s other personal interest include Hindi poetry, classical music and drama and fine arts. In terms of political interest she gives special emphasis to economy, defense and information.

Sushma Swaraj Quotes-
•On the IPL controversy- “The whole issue (of IPL) should be probed. The Leader of the House had said they are ready to probe. We feel investigating agencies will not be able to bring the truth to the fore. From day one of the episode, we have demanded that JPC be constituted to look into this.”
•On price rise- “Instead of tackling the issue of price rise and minimizing the sufferings of millions of underprivileged people of our country, the honorable minister (Pawar) has been making irresponsible statements.”
•Advice for Rahul Gandhi-“Rahul has a lot to learn about villages.”
•Strong statement pointing at the UPA-“  The UPA has become Unlimited Prime Minister Alliance. Let them not make efforts to decide on their Prime Ministerial candidate, as they will not get any chance for it. The NDA will get a clear majority and form the government.”
•Perspective- “Set your sights high, the higher the better. Expect the most wonderful things to happen, not in the future but right now. Realize that nothing is too good. Allow absolutely nothing to hamper you or hold you up in any way."

Sushma Swaraj controversies- Though she has always tried to remain aloof from she has had frequent brushes with controversy in the recent past. The most noteworthy of them all being her dance at the Gandhi Samadhi during a protest. The controversy accused of hurting the sanctity of the place. The leader of Opposition in her defense stated that the tunes made her patriotic and to boost the morale of the cadres did the same.  Not long ago she  made a highly sensationalized statement that sensationalized statement  that she would dress in white shave off her hair , eat grams and sleep on the floor if foreign born Sonia Gandhi would be made PM. In response to the congress allegation sin the cash for votes scam she stated that she BJP had not made the sting to trap the congress party.

Sushma Swaraj Books- Sushma Swaraj has not yet written a fully fledged but has penned down many prefaces and introductions for various books.

Sushma Swaraj Assets/ Net worth-  The assets  and the net worth of the Minster stands as follows Sushma and her husband Swaraj Kaushal have flats in New Delhi's Dhawandeep building with a book value of over Rs 1.34 crore and 1.12 crore respectively. Besides, Kaushal also owns a flat in posh Mahalakshmi area of Mumbai for which he has so far paid over Rs 1.38 crore till date, according to the affidavit filed by her along with her nomination papers on April 2 in Raisen.

As far as vehicles are concerned, Sushma doesn’t have a single vehicle in her own name while her husband has three (Ambassador, Maruti Zen LXI and Mercedes C-200K).However, Sushma has 1010 gms of gold and 400 gms of silver as jewellery in her name while her husband and daughter Bansuri have no ornaments with them, it said. While Sushma has Rs 14,190 as cash, her husband and daughter have over Rs 1.03 and 1.54 lakh respectively with them.

Sushma Latest News-
Mid terms elections is a certaininty
 The Leader of Opposition stated that the incumbent government had a feeble chance of surviving past the 2012 winter session and mid terms is a possibility. Issues like FDI in multi -brand retail and  various and other burning issues are not just a death knell for the Governement.

Political Office:
977–82 and 1987–90 Member, Haryana Legislative Assembly.
1977–79 Cabinet Minister, Labour and Employment, Government of Haryana.
1987–90 Cabinet Minister, Education, Food and Civil Supplies, Government of Haryana.
April 1990 Elected to Rajya Sabha
1996 Member, Eleventh Lok Sabha
16 May-1 June 1996 Union Cabinet Minister, Information and Broadcasting.
1998 Member, Twelfth Lok Sabha (2nd term)
19 March-12 Oct.1998 Union Cabinet Minister, Information and Broadcasting and Telecommunications (Additional charge)
13 Oct.-3 Dec. 1998 Chief Minister, Delhi
April 2000 Elected to Rajya Sabha (2nd term)
30 Sept. 2000–29 Jan. 2003 Minister of Information and Broadcasting
29 Jan. 2003 – 22 May 2004 Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
April 2006 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (3rd term)
16 May 2009 Elected to the 15th Lok Sabha.
3 June 2009 Elected as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
18 Dec 2009 Sushma Swaraj appointed as leader of the opposition party and replaced Lal Krishna Advani in December 2009.

Sushma Swaraj Awards:
Best Speaker, Haryana State Assembly
Best Parliamentarian Award 2008, 2010