Former external affairs minister and BJP leader Sushma Swaraj will be cremated at Lodhi Road crematorium in New Delhi with full state honours today (Wednesday, Aug 7).
Swaraj was feeling fine till afternoon but around 9.30pm, she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. She was rushed to AIIMS at 9.45pm. However, Swaraj couldn’t be revived.
Swaraj had health complications arising from diabetes, but was not suffering from any immediate health emergency. She underwent a kidney transplant in 2016 and despite a few spells of hospitalisation, was understood to be getting better.
Sources at AIIMS told ANI that the 67-year-old leader was feeling restless at 9 pm and she was taken to the hospital at around 9:30 pm in an ambulance. A team of doctors tried to revive her for 70 to 80 minutes but failed in their attempt. At 10:50 pm, Sushma Swaraj was declared dead.
Just a couple of hours before the fatal heart attack, Swaraj had expressed her happiness at the removal of special status for Jammu and Kashmir thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making it possible “in her lifetime” to see the event.
प्रधान मंत्री जी – आपका हार्दिक अभिनन्दन. मैं अपने जीवन में इस दिन को देखने की प्रतीक्षा कर रही थी. @narendramodi ji – Thank you Prime Minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime.
Modi paid rich tributes to Swaraj, saying: “A glorious chapter in Indian politics comes to an end. India grieves the demise of a remarkable leader who devoted her life to public service and bettering lives of the poor. Sushma Swaraj Ji was one of her kind, who was a source of inspiration for crores of people.”
BJP working president JP Nadda termed Swaraj’s demise as a sad incident for the whole country. “Sushma Ji is no more with us, it is a sad incident for not only BJP but the whole country. She inspired us, her last tweet tells us how she was involved in serving the nation in an emotional way,” he said in a statement to ANI.
He added, “Her mortal remains will be kept at her residence for people to pay last respects. Around 12 pm tomorrow, her mortal remains will be brought to BJP headquarters. At 3 pm, she will be taken to Lodhi road crematorium, where her last rites will be performed with full state honours.”
BJP president Amit Shah condoled her death and called it an “irreparable” loss. He recalled her role as leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, saying she was a “forceful voice of BJP” in the House. “A powerful orator, she left an indelible mark as a popular leader,” he added.
Swaraj’s long-term colleague and former finance minister Arun Jaitley said he was “saddened, pained and broken on demise of Sushmaji”. “She was one of the most outstanding politicians in the present era. She distinguished in all positions. She leaves behind a void which is difficult to fill,” he added.
Other BJP leaders and those from the opposition expressed shock and grief. President Ram Nath Kovind also offered his condolences.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that there will be two days of state mourning, in a tweet. There will be no cultural events during this period in the state. All other govt business and programmes, including the Anganwadi programme at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, will continue as scheduled, according to news agency ANI.
Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal condoled her death, saying the country has lost a great leader.
“India has lost a great leader. Sushma ji was a very warm and remarkable person. May her soul rest in peace,” Kejriwal tweeted.
Swaraj who had earned a formidable reputation in helping overseas Indians in distress came across as someone who was the “People’s Foreign Minister”.
Known for her oratorical skills, Swaraj had started her career in politics with Janta Party. Swaraj was elected to the Haryana assembly in 1977 and, at 25 years, became the youngest-ever Cabinet Minister in the Haryana government led by the late Devi Lal.
With a socialist background and initially seen as “a late-comer” to BJP, her rise within the party, considered a party of conservatives, was a testimony to her political acumen, courage and mass appeal.
Swaraj was part of the legal team put together by the Opposition when socialist leader George Fernandes was arrested around the Emergency. Since she and Swaraj Kaushal, who was also involved with the Socialists, were part of the legal team and had to travel to Mumbai together, their law professor and later Chief Justice of India AS Anand suggested that they get married, a story later recounted by her with much relish.
She was seen as a key member of BJP’s Gennext after AB Vajpayee and LK Advani along with leaders like Pramod Mahajan, Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar, Venkaiah Naidu and Narendra Modi in the 1990s.
She served in the government variously as minister for Information and Broadcasting, Parliamentary Affairs and Health Minister in the Vajpayee government and also served as Delhi Chief Minister in 1998, a position she lost to Sheila Dikshit who also passed away recently.
In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, Sushma Swaraj jumped into the electoral fray against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, heading to Bellary in Karnataka. Though she was pitchforked by the BJP at the very last moment to contest against the Congress president, she learnt a smattering of Kannada to connect with the electorate in Bellary, forcing a keen contest.
When the BJP-led NDA lost the 2004 elections — it was the start of the BJP’s decade-long political wilderness — and Congress-led UPA staked claim to form government, Swaraj had raised the political stakes by declaring she would shave her head if “Italy-born” Sonia Gandhi was elected as Prime Minister. It defined her political contest with the Congress leadership.
Swaraj was a very effective orator and she delivered for BJP as leader of opposition in Lok Sabha during UPA-2. She raised the scams that hit the Manmohan Singh government — from Commonwealth Games to coal and 2G — with verve and passion, leading protests that led to the government finally conceding a parliamentary committee on the telecom scam.
Sushma Swaraj became the external affairs minister in 2014 when Narendra Modi’s first cabinet was sworn-in on May 26. Swaraj was the second woman to take charge of the foreign ministry after Indira Gandhi. Her stint as foreign minister saw her bring a popular touch to her assignment in the first Modi government, coming to aid of Indian citizens facing problems abroad. She was known for her prompt response on Twitter to address grievances of overseas Indians.
Swaraj did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls having ruled herself out of electoral politics. Her health and the decision to bid goodbye to the electoral arena were seen to be reasons for her exclusion from the new Modi cabinet that took oath after the BJP repeated its feat of scoring a majority.
Delhi and parts of the National Capital Region witnessed another spell of rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds on Wednesday evening, marking the second such weather event in the past four days.
The sudden change brought relief from unusually high temperatures recorded earlier this month. According to officials, the temperature at Safdarjung — the city’s base weather station — was recorded at 24 degrees Celsius at 7 pm.
The India Meteorological Department had earlier issued an alert predicting light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning on March 18. Several areas across the capital experienced gusty winds along with brief but intense showers.
More rain likely over next two days
The weather department has forecast partly cloudy skies for March 19 and 20, with chances of light rain or thundershowers occurring once or twice during the day. On March 21, skies are expected to remain cloudy with the possibility of light showers continuing.
Conditions are likely to stabilise from March 23 onwards, with forecasts indicating a return to partly cloudy to clear skies across the region.
Weather activity across India to intensify
The IMD has also indicated widespread weather activity across multiple regions of the country in the coming days. Rainfall is expected to intensify in several states, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds.
In the northeastern region, heavy rainfall is likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Meghalaya during the early part of the week.
Meanwhile, the western Himalayan region is also set to witness a shift in weather patterns. Himachal Pradesh is likely to receive heavy rainfall on March 19 and 20, while Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir may experience heavy showers around March 20.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has urged states and Union Territories to ease local levies and procedural barriers affecting City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects, in a bid to accelerate the adoption of piped natural gas (PNG) as a cleaner fuel alternative.
In a communication sent to Chief Secretaries, Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Neeraj Mittal highlighted that high right-of-way charges, road cutting fees, lease rentals and other local levies imposed by urban bodies are discouraging investments in CGD infrastructure.
High costs slowing expansion
The ministry pointed out that the CGD sector, particularly PNG supply to households and commercial establishments, does not receive direct subsidies. As a result, it depends heavily on viable returns, which are being impacted by excessive and inconsistent local charges across states.
It noted that these financial and procedural hurdles are slowing down infrastructure expansion and affecting the broader adoption of natural gas.
Gap between connections and usage
According to the government, while around 12.63 crore PNG connections have been recorded, only about 1.6 crore are currently active. The ministry stressed that improving ease of doing business at state and local levels could help bridge this gap and expand the consumer base.
Officials believe that rationalising levies may initially reduce local revenues but could lead to higher long-term gains through increased gas consumption and economic activity.
LPG shortage adds urgency
The push for PNG adoption comes amid supply constraints in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), linked to ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Oil marketing companies are currently supplying only 20 per cent of normal commercial LPG demand to states.
To address this, the ministry has proposed increasing LPG allocation to 30 per cent for states that implement reforms supporting PNG and CGD expansion.
Reform-linked incentives for states
The Centre has suggested a set of measures that states can adopt to qualify for higher LPG allocations. These include:
Setting up empowered state and district-level committees for faster approvals
Introducing single-window clearance with deemed approvals within 24 hours
Implementing a dig-and-restore model using bank guarantees instead of restoration charges
Eliminating annual rental or lease charges for CGD infrastructure
The ministry said compliance with these reforms would be verified before granting additional LPG allocations.
Industry support measures
The communication also noted that GAIL and its subsidiaries have already allocated full gas supply to the commercial PNG segment to support businesses affected by reduced LPG availability.
The government reiterated that expanding natural gas usage aligns with its broader push for cleaner and domestically sourced energy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has finalised its seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Assam Assembly elections, firming up its strategy alongside National Democratic Alliance partners as campaigning gathers pace in the state.
Under the agreement, the BJP will contest 89 seats, while its allies — Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front — will field candidates in 26 and 11 constituencies respectively. The distribution has been decided after internal deliberations, with the focus now shifting to candidate announcements and campaign execution.
Campaign push led by top leadership
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address three rallies in Assam during the final leg of the campaign. Tentative dates for the rallies are April 1, April 3 and April 6, with events likely to be held in key constituencies.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also set to spearhead an extensive campaign across the state through March, aiming to energise party workers and strengthen voter outreach.
Candidate selection underway
The party’s Central Election Committee is currently meeting to finalise candidates. Sources indicate that approvals for most constituencies are expected soon, and the BJP may release its complete list of candidates within the next two days.
Ticket distribution remains a crucial exercise, with internal discussions highlighting its potential impact on local political dynamics. Party leaders have also touched upon the proposed delimitation exercise scheduled for 2027, which is expected to have long-term implications for Assam’s electoral landscape.
Polling and counting dates
Voting for all 126 Assembly seats in Assam is scheduled for April 9, while the votes will be counted on May 4.
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