india

Updated: Aug 08, 2019 09:21 IST

Former union minister Sushma Swaraj, who rose to prominence in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), cut her teeth in politics during her days with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). While she remained rooted to its ideology, she also faced brickbats from a section within the Sangh for her outreach on social media.

On Wednesday, the Sangh condoled her passing away and in a message RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi said that for nearly 45 years she led an ideal and exemplary political life and will be forever remembered as an ideal activist, able leader, influential minister.

The Sangh leaders also referred to her last tweet where she indicated her happiness over the historic moment that had taken place, (the Bill seeking reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir).

Over the years her powerful oration on issues that the Sangh supported such as the abrogation of Article 370 endeared her to the organisation. Her image of a quintessential Indian woman, who did not shy away from celebrating Indian culture and tradition even as she traversed the world of politics won her allies in the Sangh.

However, her equation with the Sangh--of which her father was a prominent member—was not without its shares of ups and downs.

In 2016, when the union government announced that Swaraj in her capacity as union external affairs minister will lead the official delegation to the Vatican for Mother Teresa’s canonization; the announcement led to a furore.

A section within the Sangh pressed for the government to withdraw the delegation and missives were sent to Swaraj to back out. The Sangh and its affiliates such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) were critical of Mother Teresa’s work and accused her of using Missionaries of Charity that she founded in 1950 in trying to convert people to Christianity.

The second such occasion occurred when a section was offended by her outreach on social media. While Swaraj earned the epithet of an accessible minister, who used her Twitter handle to address grievances from granting visas to evacuation of people in distress, hardline sections in the Sangh were peeved that the minister was playing a key role in helping Pakistan nationals get visa for medical and travel purposes even as the country continued to harbour terrorists groups.

The late minister was viciously attacked on twitter by a section of people who was angry that a Passport Officer in Lucknow, who allegedly discriminated against a Hindu-Muslim couple, was transferred to Gorakhpur after the couple tweeted about their experience. The officer was later reinstated.

Referring to the attack that she faced, Swaraj had tweeted: “I was out of India from 17th to 23rd June 2018. I do not know what happened in my absence. However, I am honoured with some tweets. I am sharing them with you. So I have liked them.”