Arun Jaitley passed away after a prolonged fight with Cancer. He was the last of the few genteel giants that ever existed in politics. A man who took active part in the modern bitter politics in a gentler way, he also proved his worth as a man of the revolution during the JP movement for which he had to also go to jail.
As a finance minister who led from the front, he was known to steer landmark reforms like the GST and a bankruptcy code.
Passing away at the age of 66, he leaves behind a legacy that is being paid rich tributes to from politicians cutting across the political spectrum.
Jaitley was often referred to as the Sankat Mochak or the trouble shooter of the BJP.
A trusted aide of the Modi Sarkar he would often win the hearts of people by his well informed and nuanced thoughts on matters that bothered the nation. His easy way of explaining legal matters in common man’s language was something all looked upto him for. By January this year due to ill health he had stepped down from office for ill health.
Things turned bad after he underwent a kidney transplant in May last year. He skipped the presentation of the interim budget in February 2018 while under treatment in the US for Cancer.
He also had triple bypass heart surgery when he was 52.
His two decade journey with the Bharatiya Janata Party saw him contribute immensely to the party. A quiet strategist he was the real Chanakya before Amit Shah entered the national scene.
His image as the prime guide for formulation and articulation of BJP’s position on political, legal, economic and administrative matters was deeply entrenched in the mind of PM Narendra Modi.
Modi’s steady rise in the country as a politician is often attributed to the terms “one-horse race” and “policy paralysis” which were coined by Jaitley to cross swords with the opposition.
Not just preparing for national and state elections, he also held charge at the state level in Gujarat since 2002, besides Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Assam and West Bengal.
Not just finance but as a defence minister, a law minister, a corporate affairs minister, a man who was well informed he proved himself throughout his political life. As leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha prior to 2014, he trained guns at the powers that be within and outside Parliament.
His work as a legal eagle too won him many friends. Op – eds on his last day read that he was a man who never shied away from a good argument.
He played a key role in the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Bill
PM Modi relied on Jaitley’s vast networks in the media, judiciary, legal fraternity, and even across the aisle in Parliament, for managing the environment in Lutyens’ Delhi.
After the first Modi government was sworn in, the file on the new monetary policy framework readied by P Chidambaram was put up to him. He signed it adding – ‘Two of the finest minds in the country have applied themselves and come up with this. I don’t need greater endorsement’.
As softer and more genteel politicians like Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj leave us, one can only hope that India still gets to revel in the gentler era that these political giants typified.
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