NEW DELHI : Arun Jaitley, the former finance minister and one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s closest associates, died in hospital on Saturday, nearly two weeks after he was admitted following breathing difficulties.
Jaitley, 66, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), stepped down as finance minister due to ill health, just months before elections.
Jaitley was admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on Aug. 9.
The lawyer-turned-politician also had triple heart bypass surgery when he was 52.
Jaitley’s urbane and articulate manner helped him win friends across party lines and industry.
During his tenure as finance minister, Jaitley led the enactment of a bankruptcy code and a national goods and services tax (GST) law that had languished for almost 20 years.
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.
A lawyer by profession, Arun Jaitley also served on the Atal Bihari Vajapyee cabinet. Between 2009 and 2014, when the BJP sat in the Opposition benches, Arun Jaitley served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
Arun Jaitley is survived by his wife and two children.
Arun Jaitley’s last rites will be performed on Sunday afternoon at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi.
