Sushma Swaraj: The feisty orator

Whether it was United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), political rallies or Parliament, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj always left a mark with her well-crafted, fiery speeches, delivered mostly in impeccable Hindi.

During her tenure as External Affairs Minister, Swaraj spoke in the UNGA on several occasions and effectively spelt out India's stand on various bilateral issues with Pakistan, mainly related to terrorism.

Addressing the UNGA in 2018, she flayed Pakistan for accusing India of sabotaging the dialogue process while reiterating New Delhi's stand that "talks and terror" cannot go together. Launching a counter attack, she accused Pakistan of being an expert in trying to mask malevolence with verbal duplicity.

After the Congress came to power in 2004, the BJP leader threatened to shave her head, don a white saree, sleep on the floor and eat only chickpeas if Italian-born Sonia Gandhi were to be sworn in as the Prime Minister.

Swaraj had said it hurt her sensibilities that even after the end of British rule, a foreigner would be chosen to lead the country.

When required, she didn't mince her words while attacking political opponents.

In one of her speeches in Parliament in 1996, when the United Front government came to power after the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP government could not prove its majority, Swaraj compared the opposition to Manthara and Shakuni -- negative characters from Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata respectively.

"Treta Yug mein Ram ke saath yahi ghatna ghati... Dwapar mein yahi ghatna Yudhishthir ke saath ghati... Agar ek Manthara aur ek Shakuni ki vajah se itna kuch hua, toh aaj toh humare saamne kitni Manthara aur kitne Shakuni hain [The same thing happened with Lord Rama in 'Treta Yug' and Yudhishthir in 'Dwapar Yug'. If that could happen with one Manthara and Shakuni, now we have so many Manthras and Shakunis before us,]" she said.