Former Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley breathed his last on Saturday at AIIMS, New Delhi. The 66-year-old BJP leader was admitted there on August 9 after he complained of breathlessness and anxiety. He was reportedly put on life support system last week.
Here are some unknown facts about the late politician cum lawyer:
1. Arun Jaitley was an excellent student. He was a commerce graduate from Shri Ram College and law graduate from Delhi University, where he was also the student union president.
2. Jaitley had been jailed during Emergency. After coming out of jail, he joined Jan Sangh. He became the ABVP president of Delhi in 1984.
3. When the BJP was formed in 1980, he became the party’s Youth Wing president.
4. Jaitley was known as a prominent Supreme Court lawyer.
6. He had reportedly become BJP’s strategist after the death of Pramod Mahajan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s retirement. He held important posts such as Law and Justice, Information and Broadcasting, Minister of State of Disinvestment during the Vajpayee regime in 1999. Vajpayee had promoted Jaitley to Cabinet rank.
7. Jaitley was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha by LK Advani in 2009.
8. Jaitley had lost his first direct election in 2014 against Congress Leader Amarinder Singh from Amritsar.
9. The former finance minister was fond of cricket and kept himself updated with the scores even when inside the House in Parliament. He was the longest-serving presidents of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). His tenure was also marked by controversies.
10. Jaitley had a long list of admirers who came from different walks of life. He visited Lodhi Garden in central Delhi every morning as part of his daily work regimen, flocked by friends who were either a fellow lawyer, a businessman or a rival party leader.
