- Arun Jaitely received the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.
- Cricket was very close to Arun Jaitely’s heart.
- Arun Jaitely supported anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare in the 2011 movement for the Jan Lokpal Bill.
New Delhi: Born in Delhi on December 28, 1952, Arun Jaitely was a renowned legal luminary and highly skilled politician. Jaitely, an excellent orator who was equally fluent in English and Hindi, articulated extremely complex matters in a simple manner. In a political career spanning four decades, Jaitely, a BJP leader, held various portfolios such as law defence, finance and corporate affairs, and information and broadcasting.
While some remember him as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Chanakya’, others say he was a ‘scholar minister’ who implemented the GST and merged the railway budget with the general budget. On his 69th birth anniversary today, have a look at some interesting facts about him.
- Arun Jaitley, who was a lawyer by profession, practised law at the Supreme Court and several high courts in the country.
- In 2009, he was selected as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha by BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani.
- Cricket was very close to Jaitely’s heart. He served as the president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) and also the vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Last year, a premier cricket stadium in the national capital was named after him.
- Jaitely had received the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.
- Jaitely supported anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare in the 2011 movement for the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Jaitley was been a key member of PM Modi’s Cabinet in the NDA government’s first innings. He, however, Jaitley did not contest the 2019 LS election due to health reasons. He suffered from a series of health issues and underwent several surgeries before his demise on August 23, 2019.
