india

Updated: Aug 07, 2019 15:22 IST

Chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party Sonia Gandhi, in a letter to late Sushma Swaraj’s husband Swaraj Kaushal, said she feels senior BJP leader’s loss “greatly”. Sonia’s one-page letter was tweeted by the Congress party’s twitter account, @INC India on Wednesday.

Late Sushma Swaraj and Sonia Gandhi were fierce political rivals who were often pitted against each other during their time spent together in the Parliament.

Sonia Gandhi in her letter says she “developed a warm personal relationship” with Sushma Swaraj in “our many years together as colleagues in the Lok Sabha.”

Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday had paid their last respects to Swaraj, who passed away on Tuesday night after suffering a cardiac arrest in national capital Delhi.

The former external affair minister had contested the 1999 Lok Sabha election from Bellary in Karnataka against the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi. She, however, lost the contest in the Congress bastion by a relatively small margin of about 55,000 votes.

Sonia says her thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family and hoped the family could draw solace from the fact that “Sushma-ji lived a life of honour, filled with achievement and contributions to the country she loved; respected and admired by all Indians,” continuing further she added, “and she went as she had lived—active and engaged till the very end.”

In another memorable face-off between the two leaders; after the 2004 parliamentary elections when Congress-led UPA was poised to form a government, Swaraj had threatened to shave her head if Sonia Gandhi became the prime minister due to the foreign origin of the Congress leader.

Sonia Gandhi also says that despite being a “superb orator” (that often saw Sushma take on the Congress led government) and a “great parliamentarian,” Sushma Swaraj had a “rare gift for friendship that won her affection and admiration across the political spectrum.”

Sonia’s letter pays rich tribute to administrative capabilities demonstrated by the late leader. “Sushma was a lady of extraordinary gifts, her courage, determination, dedication and ability manifest(ed) in every position she held,” Sonia’s letter says.

Sonia didn’t forget to recall Sushma Swaraj’s personal touch to the foreign affairs ministry and the reputation she earned for helping out people in distress, both Indians and foreigners.

“She made herself accessible to even the humblest person, established a warm rapport with people from all walks of life and with her empathy and compassion gave Indian diplomacy a human face as she reached out to help every Indian citizen in distress.” Sonia’s letter said.