Arun Jaitley, former Finance Minister and the chief troubleshooter of the BJP, has died at Delhi's AIIMS hospital, two weeks after he was admitted following complaints of breathlessness. He was 66. Leaders across party lines visited Arun Jaitley's home to pay tributes to the leader. He will cremated tomorrow.
Arun Jaitley, a lawyer by profession, had been an important part in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet in the BJP government's first term. He held the finance and defence portfolios, and often acted as the chief troubleshooter of the government. During his tenure as finance minister, Arun Jaitley led the enactment of a bankruptcy code and the Goods and Services Tax or GST.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said former Union Minister Arun Jaitley, who died at 66, "had an unbreakable bond" with the BJP. PM Modi in a tweet praised Mr Jaitley for his contributions to the nation right from his days as a student leader during the Emergency years of 1975-77, when the Congress's Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister.
Arun Jaitley was known to be part of senior BJP leader LK Advani's core team. But it was his bond with PM Modi, cemented by his role as a bridge between Gujarat and New Delhi, which fuelled his rapid rise.
Arun Jaitley was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha for a fresh term from Gujarat on 2012. He was again accorded recognition as the Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha, and took oath on April 24, 2012, as a Rajya Sabha Member for his third term.
In July, 2000 Arun Jaitley became the Minister of State, Law and Justice (independent charge).
In January, 2003 Arun Jaitley was elected as a Cabinet Minister, Law and Justice, for the second term. He also became the Cabinet Minister of Industries and Commerce.
In March, 2001, Arun Jaitley was given the additional charge under the Ministry of Shipping. "I paid special attention to modernisation of Ports by upgrading berths and introducing new berths so as to improve the efficiency by reducing the turnaround time," he had said in a Facebook post.
In December, 1999, Arun Jaitley was elected as the president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association. In 2009, he was elected as the Vice President of Board of Control for Cricket in India.
In December, 1999, Arun Jaitley was was given additional charge of the newly created Department of Disinvestment and became the first minister of state for Disinvestment.
In October, 1999, Arun Jaitley took oath as Minister of State (independent charge) of the department of Information and Broadcasting.
Arun Jaitley was appointed as the Additional Solicitor General of India in 1990. "As the ASG, I was entrusted the BOFORs case, which had shaken the collective conscience of the nation then. The BOFORS investigation was very unique; as for the first time cross-border transactions were investigated on a large scale," he said in a Facebook post.
Arun Jaitley with son Rohan Jaitley, who is now a lawyer, in January 1989.
Arun Jaitley with daughter Sonali Jaitley, who is now a lawyer, in June 1983.
In 1982, Arun Jaitley got married to Sangeeta Jaitley, the daughter of Giridhar Lal Dogra and Shakuntala Dogra.
Arun Jaitley became the president of the Youth Wing of the BJP and the secretary of its Delhi unit in 1980.
In 1980, Arun Jaitley entered the Bharatiya Janta Party. He was earlier a member of ABVP.
On June 26, 1975, the morning after the Emergency was proclaimed, Arun Jaitley gathered a group of people and burnt an effigy of then prime minister Indira Gandhi, making him, in his own words, the "first satyagrahi" against the Emergency. "The suspension of civil liberties represented a draconian mindset of the British Raj. Like every right thinking citizen, I raised my voice against this grossly undemocratic step. I escaped arrest in the early hours of 26th June 1975 and organized the first protest against the Emergency that day and was arrested. I underwent imprisonment for 19 months in the Tihar Jail. The days in Jail unraveled the different facets of life before me as a interacted with people coming from diverse back grounds. It gave me a certain insight in to the working of the human mind, which would stand me in good stead in my later life," Arun Jaitley had said.
In 1974, Arun Jaitley contested and won the election to the post of the president of the University of Delhi student's union.
In 1973, Arun Jaitley played an active role in Jai Prakash Narayan's anti-corruption stir. "I joined the moment against corruption by the then ruling powers. JP led the movement against corruption to create awareness among the public about the mis-governance and corruption in high places for which Congress had acquired an ignominious reputation in hardly 25 years of achieving independence. JP appointed me as the Convener of the Coordination Committee of the Youth and Student organizations."
In 1973, Arun Jaitley started pursuing LLB from the University of Delhi.
In 1969, Arun Jaitley joined Shri Ram College of Commerce for graduation. He was the president of his college student's union.
Arun Jaitley was a student at St Xavier's School in Delhi. "My days at St Xavier's are the most memorable; because here I moulded my thoughts, which later on shaped my political vision," he had said.
Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal condoled the demise of Arun Jaitley as he shared a throwback photo with the former Union Finance Minister on Twitter. Kapil Sibal paid tributes to an "old friend and a dear colleague" Arun Jaitley today. "Very sorry to learn that Arun Jaitley is no more. An old friend and a dear colleague will be remembered for his seminal contributions to the polity and as FM of India. As Leader of Opposition he was without match. He always stood steadfastly for his friends and for his party," he wrote on Twitter.
