A change in External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s profile on microblogging site Twitter, since reversed, fuelled speculation on Wednesday that the Minister could be stepping down.
As reports of Ms. Swaraj having dropped “Foreign Minister, Government of India” from her bio spread, leading to conjecture about her position in the Cabinet, she was back to being “Foreign Minister.” By late Wednesday night she updated her Twitter bio to read “Personal a/c of Sushma Swaraj Minister for External affairs, Government of India.”
While her office refused to comment, the BJP put up a spirited defence of the Minister. “There is no reason for her to step down. She has not done anything in contravention of the law. The Minister is ready to make a statement on the issue,” said a senior party leader.
Another leader said the Minister had changed her profile a few days ago as she was tweeting about exposing a Congress leader for putting pressure on her to give a diplomatic passport to coal scam accused Santosh Bagrodia, and therefore, did not want to be seen tweeting from the official Twitter handle.
On Wednesday the Minister had tweeted: “A senior Congress leader was pressing me hard to give diplomatic passport to the Coal scam accused Santosh Bagrodia.”
She had said she would disclose the name in Parliament, but could not as both Houses were adjourned.
