Row erupts just as Sushma Swaraj was warming up to her job

NEW DELHI: The controversy over facilitation of travel documents for former IPL boss Lalit Modi, who continues to face probe for financial fraud, couldn't have come at a worse moment for foreign minister Sushma Swaraj.
Swaraj had overcome her troubled past with PM Narendra Modi -- as also several other top BJP leaders -- to emerge as one of the top performers in the government, so much so that Modi himself showered encomiums on her for her work.Rarely, if ever, has Modi done the same for any other senior minister since taking over as PM.
Modi said in April that MEA had never before worked in the manner it was doing under Swaraj. “If somebody in distress tweets to her at 1 am, she replies by 1.10 am,'' is how Modi chose to describe her assiduity as India's foreign minister. While people will long debate whether or not there's any merit in her defence that she “genuinely'' believed Lalit Modi needed help for his wife suffering from cancer, Swaraj came across as compassionate and warm-hearted in the way she worked ungodly hours to help people seeking her help on social media.
Swaraj has worked hard even while keeping away from the media glare as much as possible, acting in the process as a perfect foil for Modi who is credited with reinvigorating India’s foreign policy. Never did Swaraj give the impression that she was feeling left out as Modi earned accolades for initiatives like India’s neighbourhood outreach, its Act East Policy and the recent successful conclusion of the land boundary agreement with Bangladesh.
When Modi decided to replace former foreign secretary Sujatha Singh with S Jaishankar, Swaraj made it a point to dispel the notion that she had not been taken into confidence by Modi over the move. The fact that she went to receive Modi at the airport after his successful visits to Japan and Bangladesh was seen as evidence of compatibility between the two leaders with Swaraj reconciled to the fact that the PM was always going to be the main driving force of India’s foreign policy.
While Modi is known for his globe-trotting ways, Swaraj too has travelled to over 20 countries as foreign minister, quietly pushing Modi’s agenda. She has taken keen interest in Modi’s yoga initiative and will be travelling to the UN in New York to celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21. She has also received praise for the way she dealt with the crisis emanating from the kidnapping of Indian construction workers in Iraq by ISIS, especially the way she engaged their relatives here.
From being BJP’s most well known face once to becoming uncommunicative as foreign minister, Swaraj has indeed undergone quite a transformation. It is interesting that when asked about the reason for her success at a press conference last month, Swaraj responded by saying, “stay away from the media and do your own work’’. It remains to be seen if it really helped her in the end.