Photos: Former Finance Minister, BJP veteran Arun Jaitley dies aged 66
After a prolonged illness, former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley breathed his last at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences today. Jaitley made his foray into student politics after becoming the DU President in 1974. He is credited as being the key strategist responsible for BJP’s victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. A close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jaitley had opted out of the government citing poor health when the second NDA government headed by PM Modi took oath this year.
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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during a meeting at his office in 2016. Jaitley died at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the afternoon today, after a prolonged illness. He was 66. A stalwart of the BJP, Jaitley was admitted to AIIMS on August 9, after he complained of uneasiness. When the BJP got the majority in this year’s Lok Sabha elections, Jaitley had opted out of the government citing poor health. (Sonu Mehta/ HT Archive)
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Arun Jaitley (2nd L) among the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) candidates for the DUSU elections 1974. Jaitley was born to Maharaj Kishen Jaitley and Ratan Prabha Jaitley in 1952. He completed his schooling from St. Xavier’s School and a Bachelor’s in commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce in 1973. He then enrolled to study law and made his foray into student politics. (KK Chawla / HT Archive)
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Jaitley emerged the president of the students’ union in the 1974 DUSU elections. A member of the ABVP, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Jaitley rose to become the president of its Delhi chapter. In 1977, he received his law degree from Delhi University, and joined the newly formed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1980. (Virendra Prabhakar / HT Archive)
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Arun Jaitley poses for a picture in November, 1994. He became a senior advocate at the Delhi High Court in 1990, and became part of the national executive of the BJP the following year. In 1998, he attended the United Nations General Assembly session as the government’s delegate. (HC Tiwari / HT Archive)
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In 1999, Jaitley was elevated to the position of a spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He later became a Minister of State in the Department of Information and Broadcasting and was given additional charge of a few other ministries. (HT Archive)
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Jaitley during a cricket match in 2002. A facet of his life, overshadowed by his presence in the public eye as a politician and parliamentarian was his keen interest in cricket. Jaitley served as the president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association from 1999-2013. (Raj K Raj / HT Archive)
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Jaitley as MoS Information and Broadcasting is seen with MP and former president of BCCI Madhav Rao Scindia and chairman of go4cricket.com MAK Pataudi during the launch of the latter’s website. After the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA came to power, Jaitley was given charge of a number of ministries, taking on various roles till the time the government remained in power. (Ajay Aggarwal / HT Archive)
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Minister for Trade and Commerce Arun Jaitley speaks to the media after his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport after attending the World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit at Cancun, Mexico, in 2003. Jaitley had led the Indian delegation at the conference. (Kaushik Ramaswamy / HT Archive)
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With the NDA’s defeat in the general elections of 2004, Jaitley returned to serving as a general secretary and spokesperson of the BJP. Party president M. Venkaiah Naidu appointed Jaitley and Rajnath Singh as the party’s general secretaries. In the backdrop, a party poster depicts former deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and M. Venkaiah Naidu. (Gurinder Osan / AP File)
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Arun Jaitley was known for his oratory skills, using his speeches to spread the vision of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is seen here addressing the launch of ‘Friends of BJP’, formed to galvanise the youth and professionals, in 2009. The same year, Jaitley became the vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). (Kunal Patil / HT Archive)
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Jaitley in conversation with BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi during a campaign rally ahead of the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections. The BJP failed to clinch a majority in the Delhi Assembly that year, but won the general elections the following year in 2014, with Modi fulfilling his long-standing dream to lead the government. Jaitley was among the first to realise the potential of Modi, and the two stayed together through thick and thin. (Sonu Mehta / HT Archive)
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BJP Lok Sabha candidate Arun Jaitley during an election campaign road show in Amritsar in April 2014. While Jaitley failed to clinch the seat, he was one of the key strategists in the massive win the BJP witnessed in the general elections. (Sameer Sehgal / HT Archive)
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Jaitley at his office in the Finance ministry in 2014. Post the BJP’s win, Jaitley was given charge of three key portfolios of Defence, Finance and Corporate Affairs. He also assumed office as Minister of Information and Broadcasting later that year. (Pradeep Gaur / Mint Archive)
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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das addresses the meeting of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India in November, 2016. During Jaitley’s tenure as finance minister, the government implemented crucial economic decisions such as the Goods and Services Tax and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The government also merged the railway budget with the general budget. (Kamal Kishore / PTI File)
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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, accompanied by BJP leaders, leaves the Finance Ministry to present the Annual Budget for the financial year 2017-18. Jaitley was not able to present the Union Budget for 2018-19 and the Interim Budget for 2019-20 because of poor health. Jaitley has had a history of medical conditions, including diabetes and kidney failure. He underwent a kidney transplant last year in May, and a bariatric surgery in September 2014. (Ajay Aggarwal / HT Archive)
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Jaitley is seen with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh after the release of BJP’s manifesto (Sankalp Patra) for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Even as the BJP won the elections with a larger margin than 2014, Jaitley refused to take up any key portfolios owing to his health issues. (Arvind Yadav / HT Archive)
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