Arun Jaitley, BJP's 'super strategist', passes away after prolonged illness

A stalwart leader in the Bharatiya Janta Party, Arun Jaitley, the former Finance Minister had been in and out of hospitals since last year. He passed away at AIIMS, New Delhi following a prolonged illness.

A stalwart leader in the Bharatiya Janta Party, Arun Jaitley, India's 26th Finance Minister breathed his last on Saturday at AIIMS.

The veteran politician had been under undergoing treatment at the Cardiothoracic and Neurosciences Centre of All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi since the last three weeks.

The ailing politician was visited by several party leaders including President Ramnath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, among others.

Often regarded as Narendra Modi's chief trouble-shooter since 2002, which is when the Gujarat riots hung over the then chief minister like a dark cloud, Jailtley had been in and out of hospitals for the past two years.

The 67-year-old super strategist, who opted out of public office in the second term of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for health reasons, had earlier undergone treatment for kidney-related problems.

Before the NDA formed the cabinet, Jaitley had written to Modi that he would not like to be part of the cabinet because of ailments, but had offered to undertake informal work for the government and the BJP.

In his four-decade-long political career Jaitley has been credited with being an astute politician and during his stint as Finance Minister he spearheaded India’s indirect tax reforms and introduced a modern bankruptcy code, among other measures.

Jaitley, who also held the corporate affairs portfolio, led a drive to weed out shell companies used by tax evaders.

Earlier, in September 2014, he underwent bariatric surgery to correct the weight he had gained because of a long-standing diabetic condition.

In May 2018, he underwent renal transplant surgery at AIIMS, Delhi, as he had been suffering from a kidney ailment and had been undergoing dialysis. More recently, he also underwent treatment in the US in January this year.