One the most inspiring speakers in the Lok Sabha, the 62-year-old Leader of Opposition has for long been the BJP’s popular campaigners and woman leader. A product of the JP movement, Swaraj became the youngest minister, when she was just 25 years old, in the Haryana Cabinet in the nascent Janata Party government after defeating the mighty Bansi Lal in 1977.
Possessed with an almost photographic memory, Swaraj can be, at once, homely and stately. She is married to lawyer and civil liberties advocate Swaraj Kaushal and her daughter, Bansuri, has read law at the Inner Temple in the UK. Unlike the clutch of Delhi leaders who lack a mass base, Swaraj has fought elections from Ambala Cantt to Bellary in Karnataka and Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh.
For a politician, Swaraj is a straightforward person, not mincing words and speaking her mind when she wants to. Her inclusion in the Cabinet despite her fairly well articulated opposition to Narendra Modi’s projection as Prime Minister is a testimony to her stature in the party. She has remained staunchly loyal to L. K. Advani despite his diminishing clout in the party.
In her new role, Swaraj is a unique asset combining her very native charm with a formidable experience with India’s turbulent politics. She has used her status as the only woman in the BJP’s highest decision-making body, the parliamentary board, to push for various pro-woman policy decisions. On her insistence, the BJP amended its constitution to reserve 33 per cent seats for women at all levels of the party organisation.
Swaraj has been a strong supporter of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament and despite her opposition to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi becoming Prime Minister in 2004, the two powerful women have remained on friendly terms in Parliament. The ability to strike easy friendships with opponents will stand her in good stead in her new role in the Cabinet.