Rahul, Sonia pay last tribute to Sushma Swaraj

New Delhi: Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday paid their last respects to senior BJP leader and former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who passed away on Tuesday night after suffering a cardiac arrest.
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.
Also, 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.
As the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha during Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) II government, the BJP leader was unsparing in her attacks and helped build momentum against the Congress.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh also visited the residence of the political stalwart and extended sympathy to her family.
“I was shocked to hear about the sudden demise of Smt Sushma Swaraj. In her death our country has lost a respected and dedicated leader,” said Singh in a statement.