Arun Jaitley - A Tribute

Arun Jaitley: Tribute to formidable
modern politician
Former Union minister Arun Jaitley, who passed away in New Delhi on 24th August 2019,
rose to become one of India's most high-profile politicians by dint of an impossibly
demanding career in which he excelled as a lawyer, political strategist, parliamentarian,
orator, television spokesperson, sports administrator and a minister who held key portfolios
in multiple governments.
He never won an electoral contest except in student politics, but became a key figure in the
Bharatiya Janata Party both in the Vajpayee-Advani era as well as the current Modi era, due
to his political and legal acumen as well as his powers of persuasion, negotiation and
consensus building.
In Delhi, where he lived all his life, he was also a well-liked and sought-after social figure,
with wide-ranging relationships and a reputation as a warm host, generous friend, foodie and
raconteur. Within the party, he was an ace strategist and troubleshooter, and for long played
a key role in election strategy, publicity and alliance building.
In July 2017, when fissures developed in the JD(U)-RJD government in Bihar, BJP sensed
an opportunity to fish in troubled waters. Though chief minister Nitish Kumar had walked out
of NDA in 2013, protesting the BJP's decision to make Narendra Modi its prime ministerial
candidate, the saffron party decided to court him again. Arun Jaitley then used his good
equations with Kumar to stitch together a JD(U)-BJP government within hours.
Nitish Kumar would often have dinner with Jaitley during his visits to Delhi where the latter
would ensure his favourite dishes and dessert were served. The practice had become erratic
but continued even after Kumar had broken ties with the BJP.
It was his easy accessibility and readiness to help those he knew that endeared Arun Jaitley
to most people in the BJP, the media and the public at large. These traits made him the chief
troubleshooter of the party for many years and he became a key part of BJP's strategy
making, both when the party was in opposition in late 2000 and after the first Narendra Modi
government was formed in 2014.
After the premature death of Pramod Mahajan in 2006, Jaitley became the main pointsman
for veteran leader LK Advani to deal with political challenges. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was
not very fond of Jaitley, had by then moved towards semi-retirement due to his failing health.
Jaitley was perhaps the first Delhi leader in the BJP who openly supported Modi through ups
and downs during his chief ministership. He was also among the first to switch camps to
Modi from Advani when the party had to choose its prime ministerial candidate in 2013.
At the BJP conclave in Goa in June 2013, when Advani decided to stay away in protest
against the move to declare Modi the Campaign Committee Chief for the 2014 Lok Sabha
election, Jaitley was in the forefront in ensuring that the plan was carried out. While Sushma
Swaraj backed Advani, Jaitley led the Modi supporters.
Among his many contributions to the BJP, perhaps the most significant is that as a lawyer.
He was deeply involved in dealing with the cases against Advani in the Babri mosque
demolition and the Jain hawala case, and later, the legal issues that Narendra Modi and
Amit Shah faced in Gujarat.
Though a good orator who focused more on substance than rhetoric, Jaitley could never
emerge as a mass leader. Many felt he was too suave and polished for the rough and
tumble of electoral politics. The only election he won was that of Delhi University Students'
Union president. But he made a mark there when he courted arrest during the national
emergency.
He focused on his legal practice post-emergency though he continued to be a member of the

BJP. It was only after he was made a union minister in 1999 that he came to the Rajya
Sabha and went on to win four terms.
Ever the optimist, Jaitley would often say there is no last day in the calendar of politics. He
was only 66 when he passed away.

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Arun Jaitley: Tribute to formidable

He focused on his legal practice post-emergency though he continued to be a member of the

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