R.I.P. Arun Jaitley

The former finance minister of India and senior advocate Arun Jaitley is no more.

He breathed his last today at 12.07 PM as per the bulletin of All India Medical Sciences’ cardiology department. Former finance minister Jaitley was suffering from cancer.

He was critically ill since August 9, and the ailing minister was admitted in the cardiology department’s ICU and was put on a ventilator. A towering leader of BJP and also a leading lawyer and former president of Delhi University Student’s Union.  Former finance minister Arun Jaitley was 66 years old.

Jaitley was under the minute and constant monitoring of the multidisciplinary team of doctors viz cardiology, nephrology, and neurology. Jaitley had also undergone kidney transplant about a year ago and since then he was not keeping good health. He was heavily diabetic as well. While he was critically ill since 9th of August, the President of India Ram Nath Kovind had visited AIIMS to know about his health condition. The union home minister Amit Shah and Union health minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan had also visited the hospital a number of times. The President, prime minister and several union ministers had prayed for his speedy recovery through a tweet, a number of times.

Arun Jaitley was a strong pillar of the BJP who was relentlessly active during the emergency period, 1975 to 1977 and he was also jailed for nineteen months by the then Congress government led by PM Indira Gandhi for opposing emergency tooth and nail. He was a dashing student leader of DUSU and was it’s president as well. A leading advocate Jaitley’s actual career started during the emergency when he established himself as a powerful youth leader. He started his career as a leader of Akhilesh Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad. Arun Jaitley was also the defense minister in between, in NDA’s first term in addition to his finance portfolio.

He was a highly qualified and we’ll read politician considered to be the troubleshooter of the BJP led NDA government and for prime minister Narendra Modi. An outstanding spokesperson as well, the former finance minister Arun Jaitley was not in good health and had written a personal letter to PM Modi requesting him to not include him in the new cabinet due to health reasons and thanked him for always reposing faith in him as union finance minister.

Meanwhile, after hearing the sad news of Jaitley’s demise union Health minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has arrived at AIIMS. Union Home minister Amit Shah on hearing the sad news has canceled his Hyderabad visit and is returning back to the capital. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has personally spoken on the telephone to late Jaitley’s family members and conveyed his condolences. His family has requested prime minister Modi not to cut short his foreign tour. Amit  Shah has tweeted he is grief-stricken by losing a family member and a stalwart of BJP. Union defense minister Raj Nath Singh has also expressed his grief and condolences on the sad demise of Arun Jaitley. The BJP and the country have lost two towering personalities in the recent past, late Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

Jaitley wanted to be a chartered accountant but later on, followed his father’s footsteps. He joined as a lawyer in 1977 in the Delhi high court and later on in Supreme Court. He also served as Additional Solicitor General in Delhi High Court. Late Arun Jaitley had been the I&B, Corporate Affairs and Law minister in the previous BJP governments and later went on to become the finance and defense minister in Narendra Modi government.

The president of India Ram Nath Kovind while expressing his sorrow and grief over Jaitley’s demise tweeted that he was a great leader who fought his ailment with immense determination and fighting spirit. He was an eminent parliamentarian, a great leader and a most capable minister. The nation has lost a stalwart. Prime minister Narendra Modi has tweeted that he has lost a valued friend whom he had known for decades. PM has tweeted four times highly appreciating and lauding his immeasurable contribution to the nation. Scores of political leaders within BJP and across the political spectrum have expressed their sorrow and grief and have lauded his unparalleled contribution in nation-building and fighting corruption.

Jaitley is survived by his wife and two children. He was a prolific writer as well having authored several books on legal matters and contributed myriad articles in national dailies. He also wrote the last blog before his demise lauding the scrapping of article 370 and 35 A in Kashmir.