Mortal remains of Sushma Swaraj brought to BJP headquarters

Amid chants of 'Sushma ji amar rahe', the mortal remains of former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj were brought to BJP headquarters from her residence on Wednesday afternoon for people to pay homage.

The body of Swaraj, who passed away following a cardiac arrest on Tuesday night, was brought to the BJP headquarters in Rouse Avenue from her house, a few km away, in an ambulance with BJP workers chanting 'Jab tak sooraj chand rahega, Sushma tera naam rahega' (Your name will be alive as long as sun and moon are there).

The body would be kept there for people to pay homage and will be later cremated at the Lodhi crematorium.

Earlier today, President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP working president JP Nadda among others paid tribute to Swaraj at her residence.

Prime Minister Modi and BJP veteran L K Advani had turned emotional as they visited Swaraj's home to pay their last respects.

Swaraj, who passed away at AIIMS, was BJP's most prominent woman face.

According to sources at AIIMS, the 67-year-old was feeling restless at 9 pm and she was brought to the hospital at around 9:30 pm in an ambulance. She was declared dead at 10:50 pm.

Swaraj was foreign minister in the first term of Modi government in 2014. She opted out of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections citing health reasons.