Sushma Swaraj first woman to get External Affairs portfolio

In 1977, at 25 years of age, Swaraj became the youngest-ever cabinet minister. She held the education portfolio in Haryana.

In 1979, she became the state president of the BJP in Haryana. She was also the first woman spokesperson for any political party in India and won the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.

Swaraj, a law graduate who practised in the Supreme Court, has been elected seven times as a Member of Parliament and three times as a Member of the Legislative Assembly.

She began her political career with RSS student wing ABVP in the 1970s. Member of the Haryana Assembly from 1977 to 1982 from Ambala Cantonment, she was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister in the Devi Lal government.

She was Cabinet Minister for Information and Broadcasting during the 13-day Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government in 1996.

She resigned from the Cabinet in the next Vajpayee regime to take over as the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi in October 1998.