Arun Jaitley passes away at 66
Arun Jaitley, the former finance minister and a stalwart of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has passed away today at AIIMS, Delhi. He was 66.
In a brief statement, the hospital said Jaitley died at 12.07 pm.
It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of Arun Jaitley, former Finance Minister of Government of India, at 12.07 pm on August 24, the AIIMS said.
Jaitley was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on August 9 and was treated by a multi-disciplinary team of senior doctors.
Hospital sources had earlier said he was on life support.
Jaitley was unwell since last two years. In 2018, he underwent a kidney transplant surgery, following which he was put under isolation. Earlier in 2014, Arun Jaitley underwent a bariatric surgery to address the excess weight he had gained due to diabetes.
During the first term of Narendra Modi government in office, Jaitley was seen as the prime minister's 'go-to' man, who took the responsibilities of temporarily handling ministries other than his primary portfolio of finance.
As finance minister, Arun Jaitley presented all of the Narendra Modi government 1.0's budgets. However, due to his ill health, he was unable to present the 2019 Interim Budget, which was instead presented by his colleague Piyush Goyal.
After the Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Arun Jaitley wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting that he not be given any responsibilities in the new government as he wanted to focus on his health.
A lawyer by profession, Arun Jaitley was among the leaders who were jailed by the Indira Gandhi government during the Emergency. He was a student leader at the time.
After being released from jail, Arun Jaitley joined active politics as a member of the Jan Sangh and rose through the ranks of the organisation, which later became the BJP. He also served on the Atal Bihari Vajapyee cabinet. When the BJP sat in the Opposition benches between 2009 and 2019, Arun Jaitley served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
Arun Jaitley is survived by his wife and two children.
