Sushma Swaraj, who routinely earned plaudits for adding the much-needed compassion to her ministry of external affairs as India’s foreign minister in the last five years, on Thursday wrote a farewell note after failing to make the cut in the new cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She was among 15-odd notable names, who did not find a place in the new Modi cabinet.
Swaraj took to Twitter to write a heartfelt note in Hindi thanking PM Modi for the opportunity to serve as the country’s foreign minister. “Dear Prime Minister, You gave me the opportunity to serve the countrymen and Non-Resident Indians as the Foreign Minister in the last five years. You also gave me a lot of respect as a person during my entire tenure. I’m immensely grateful to you. I pray to God that may our government run with incredible success.”
प्रधान मंत्री जी – आपने 5 वर्षों तक मुझे विदेश मंत्री के तौर पर देशवासियों और प्रवासी भारतीयों की सेवा करने का मौका दिया और पूरे कार्यकाल में व्यक्तिगत तौर पर भी बहुत सम्मान दिया. मैं आपके प्रति बहुत आभारी हूँ. हमारी सरकार बहुत यशस्विता से चले, प्रभु से मेरी यही प्रार्थना है.
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 30, 2019
Her last tweet as the country’s external affairs minister went viral with more than 60,000 Twitter users liking her social media post. It also evoked plenty of positive reactions from everyone. Notable among them was Soni Razdan, mother of Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt, who wrote, “You did so much good M’am. Those whom you have helped will never forget you. Those of us who read about your good deeds with admiration will always admire you. God Bless you.”
IAS officer Mubassir Latifi wrote, “Ma’am Nation will always remember your timely help & prompt action for people in distress. A beautiful couplet of Sahir Ludhianvi sums up your immense contributions in MEA: “Maana ki is zamin ko na Gulzar kar sake// Kuchch Khaar kam to kar gaye guzre jidhar se ham” God bless you.”
Similar messages flooded her timeline with many concluding that she will be missed enormously. On Friday, among those administered oath of office also included S Jaishankar, former foreign secretary in the Indian government. It’s not clear if he will be handed over the foreign ministry, held by Swaraj in the last five years.
