The nation couldn’t stop mourning at the demise of our Iron Lady, Sushma Swaraj, the day came with another major loss to the country. Arun Jaitley, the senior member of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), and our former Finance Minister, who had been ailing for the past few years and was admitted to New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on August 9, breathed his last on August 24 at the age of 66.
As Jaitley was Union finance minister in the Narendra Modi-led government’s first term in power at the Centre. He also held the defence portfolio for a while.
Adept at working the levers of power, he has been Modi’s go-to man in New Delhi since the late 1990s, before deteriorating health put an end to his four-decade-long political career. A day before the Modi 2.0 government was sworn in, sadly Jaitley cited health issues while requesting the prime minister to let him stay out of the cabinet.
Here we are with few interesting facts of the legendary politician’s life:
- Arun Jaitley was one of the main faces of the BJP and especially during the Delhi Assembly elections, he played a vital role. As the Finance Minister of his term, Jaitley handled affairs as an advocate and introduced new policies. He was regarded as the minister who takes faster initiatives in terms of infrastructure projects, tax and investment.
- Arun Jaitley was born on December 28, 1952, into a Punjabi Brahmin family and studied at St. Xavier’s School, New Delhi, from 1957-69. As a student, he received several distinctions for his outstanding performance in academic and extracurricular activities.
- Arun Jaitley was the student leader of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in Delhi University Campus and later became the President of the University Students’ Union in 1974.
- Arun Jaitley launched his career as a successful lawyer and has proved to be a good minister to the nation in many ways. He was said to be a strong support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his ‘go-to’ person.
- Arun Jaitley had a great command over his language and was an amazing orator. Apart from these skills, Arun Jaitley had the power of convincing and knows the perfect art of using appropriate words during any conversation.
- He was appointed as the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting for the first time soon after the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government came to power and also the Minister of State for Disinvestment (Independent Charge). He led India in talks at WTO (World Trade Organization) and increased greater access towards emerging markets.
- Jaitley served as the General Secretary of the BJP in 2002 and took the same position later on in 2004. In 2009, Arun Jaitley resigned from his post and was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha by LK Advani.
- He held several portfolios and also served as the active member of the Board of Governors of Asian Development Bank. additionally, he held the position of vice-president of BCCI but resigned after IPL spot-fixing scandal as well.
May the soul rest in peace!
