Good souls leave for heavenly abode early than the others because they are needed there, so goes the old saying. After Sushma Swaraj, the passing away of Arun Jaitley at 66 is, indeed. a great loss to Indian politics. Like Sushma, Jaitley was a gem and as versatile and rock solid pillars of the BJP. After admitted in AIIMS on Aug 9 last he was battling the death. In fact, he battled all through his life. He battled his adversaries and ailments as bravely he could.
I met him first time when he was DUSU president in 1974 at a meeting of student leaders. Was greatly impressed with his oratory skills and reasoning power. The way he put forth the student cause, it was most convincing. Jaitley was a Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) student leader and I was on not inclined to saffron thinking. Still, I always followed his speeches. As finance minister, he did better than many of his predecessors. Dr Subramanian Swamy unrelenting bashing notwithstanding.
Its worth noting that Jaitely was a prominent leader of a movement against corruption launched in the year 1973 by Raj Narain and Jayaprakash Narayan. He was the convener of the National Committee for Students and Youth organization appointed by Jai Prakash Narayan. He was also active in civil rights movement and helped found PUCL Bulletin. He was jailed during emergency.
Jaitley held the important cabinet portfolios of Finance, Defence, Corporate Affairs, Commerce and Industry and Law and Justice in the Vajpayee government and Narendra Modi government. From 2009 to 2014 he served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. He was a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India.
As finance minoster he oversaw the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax which brought the country under one GST regime, demonetization, merger of Railway budget with general budget. changing presentation of budget from Feb 28 to Feb 1 and introduction of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. All these steps earned him a niche in history. He will be remembered for long time to come.
Its worth noting that Jaitely was a prominent leader of a movement against corruption launched in the year 1973 by Raj Narain and Jayaprakash Narayan. He was the convener of the National Committee for Students and Youth organization appointed by Jai Prakash Narayan. He was also active in civil rights movement and helped found PUCL Bulletin. He was jailed during emergency.
Jaitley held the important cabinet portfolios of Finance, Defence, Corporate Affairs, Commerce and Industry and Law and Justice in the Vajpayee government and Narendra Modi government. From 2009 to 2014 he served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. He was a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India.
As finance minoster he oversaw the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax which brought the country under one GST regime, demonetization, merger of Railway budget with general budget. changing presentation of budget from Feb 28 to Feb 1 and introduction of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. All these steps earned him a niche in history. He will be remembered for long time to come.