Newsroom, Aug 7: Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart and former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who passed away last night, had a strong Karnataka connection. She had played a key role in the rise of the saffron party in this south Indian state.
It all started in 1999, when Sonia Gandhi contested the Lok Sabha election. She filed her nomination from two constituencies—Ballari in Karnataka, and the Gandhi family seat of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP fielded Swaraj, the in-house orator and poster child for the “adarsh bharatiya nari"—an ideal Indian woman. The contest was a fiery one and soon became a battle between the ‘swadeshi beti’ and ‘videshi bahu’ thanks to the media.
Even though Swara miserably lost the battle, her rigorous campaign helped the saffron party to strengthen presence in Karnataka.
Sushma’s campaign laid the foundation for a tectonic shift as the BJP breached the Congress citadel in 2004. Her campaign was managed by the three Reddy brothers.
For nearly 15 years since 1999, Sushma had made it a point to celebrate Varamahalakshmi festival every year in Ballari. When BJP came to power in Karnataka, she became the political mother of Reddy brothers of Ballari. However, this relationship did not last long.
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