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)+, ? &)$'&@( %'&@(@ $%"$&'() 2 !"# 34 $$ 567 8&% ((&) &$'( !" #$% 1: :;: ;< : 2 ; :; 2O= := >:=; ; <2; !" * + , -.+-/&01 '2)6 $ %'( $) ' ! R $ P and nuanced understanding of matters had very few paral- 12-member delegation of run Jaitley, who as Finance lels. He lived well, leaving us all AOpposition leaders led by AMinister ushered in India’s with innumerable happy mem- Congress MP, Rahul Gandhi, biggest tax reforms and was the ories. We will miss him!” the was sent back by the Jammu & O chief troubleshooter of the BJP Prime Minister said. Kashmir Government from Q and the Narendra Modi In his two brief stints as Srinagar airport after detaining Government, passed away at Defence Minister, Jaitley them at the airport for around " # the All India Institute of cleared the path for ushering in 3 hours on Saturday. Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here a raft of long-pending reforms The delegation was visiting premises, some media per- " $ on Saturday after battling mul- in the Armed forces and came Srinagar to take stock of the sons, accompanying the dele- tiple health issues for the last out with key policy initiatives ground situation in the after- gation, were reportedly heckled #%&Q '( ) several months. He was 66. with an aim to make India self math of scrapping of Article by the security personnel *+,- ./ Prime Minister Narendra reliant in defence production. 370. On their arrival in deployed at the airport. The ' Modi, who is away on a foreign He was perhaps among Srinagar airport, the leaders of security personnel repeatedly " " " visit, is not to cut short his tour the BJP bigwigs who made a the delegation were escorted to told media persons not to 0++++ " as suggested by the bereaved smooth transition from the the VIP lounge and were not shoot inside Srinagar airport as . 1#2'34" family whom Modi spoke to Atal-Advani era in the party to allowed to move out of the air- the same has been categorised from Bahrain. the one where Modi dominat- port premises. as Defence airport and pho- In a brief statement, the ! " # $ %& ed, ushering in the rise of new Amid chaos and confusion, tography is prohibited there. " " / 56+ 50/ hospital said Jaitley breathed generation leaders. which prevailed inside airport Turn to Page 4 7 89 : & his last at 12.07 pm. He was term. He headed the Finance, rise in the BJP by helping him " admitted to the hospital on Defence, Corporate Affairs and win key allies. Jaitley played an " August 9 following complaint Information and Broadcasting instrumental role in imple- " of breathing difficulty. The Ministries. Leaders across the mentation of Modi’s various R " " cremation will be on Sunday political spectrum paid rich ambitious schemes and pro- afternoon at the Nigambodh tributes to Jaitley, a quintes- grammes after the BJP came to Q "& Ghat. sential moderate who was power in May 2014. His most " Known as a consensus never associated with the hard important legacy was rolling & builder, Jaitley was the BJP’s edges of Hindutva politics. out of Goods and Services $ man for all seasons and acted He became a trusted friend Tax (GST) in 2017, the biggest " as the key strategist for the of Modi as he smoothed the tax reforms after almost ended the frontline of Modi and party president Amit Modi Government in its first path for the Gujarat leader’s Independence. BJP group of leaders, described Shah and in fact made a ; < Modi, who is on a three- he untimely passing away of as D-4 — the Delhi-centric “trimurti” deciding important $ 2 / ' ' . nation tour, said he had lost a TArun Jaitley, 66, at AIIMS in leadership that dominated the decisions at all levels. & valued friend and conveyed his Delhi on Saturday after pro- BJP politics for almost three- So much so that even " P condolences to Jaitley’s wife and longed illness days after the decades. after Jaitley lost his maiden son. “With the demise of Arun death of former Foreign Unlike Swaraj and Kumar, Lok Sabha elections in 2014 to $ Q = Jaitleyji, I have lost a valued Minister Sushma Swaraj, 67, it was Jaitley who remained the Captain Amrinder Singh ' " / friend, whom I have had the and months following the ears and eyes of the Modi from Amritsar, Modi retained ) Q 7 honour of knowing for demise of Parliamentary Affairs Government and the party, him at the heart of his dis- 89 3 " decades. His insight on issues Minister Ananth Kumar, 59, has presently held in a tight grip by pensation. ". & ' " with him.” & A Delhi BJP leader said Q& olitical leaders in Delhi during the period of Emergency Poffered floral tributes to (1975-77), Jaitley was placed " 9 Q 7 former Finance Minister Arun under preventive detention first ' & Q Jaitley at his Kailash Colony in the Ambala Jail and then in > residence in South Delhi. the Tihar Jail, Delhi. " From President Ram Nath Party leaders from across Kovind to Bharatiya Janata the political spectrum, BJP & Party (BJP) president Amit workers and his admirers filed " " Shah, Delhi Chief Minister past the body, which was kept " >. > Arvind Kejriwal and leaders of in a glass casket, offering flow- & = Delhi BJP unit thronged ers and wreaths. Union Q Jaitley’s residence. Ministers Shah, Harsh & " Recalling college days, BJP Vardhan, Jitendra Singh, S leader Vijay Goel said, “We Jaishankar and BJP working ) # both fought students’ union president JP Nadda were seen " " 9 election in Shri Ram College of paying last respects to Jaitley at . Commerce (SRCC). He his residence. CM Kejriwal, . became president and I became Uttar Pardesh Chief Minister P Q " the secretary. Since then, I Yogi Adityanath also paid / " ( have shared a great relationship homage to departure soul. "7 / ,,,A-6 > O " ! &)()& " ! )) Q L 9 L $%&' " & %& ( 6 % (% " & $ ('!% & " )(( +', -). ' ((&' $ L% (&. 9 " > " M1 $%!&' " % )' " !) (!. - run Jaitley and I became A crusader against cor- Afriends well before we met ruption, Jaitley would be burn- each other in Delhi University and I have been steadfast ing the midnight oil with offi- in 1977. Quite surprisingly I got friends regardless. cials like Bhure Lal who was VP a postcard, checked and A multi-talented, multi- Singh’s self-appointed anti-cor- stamped by Tihar Jail authori- tasking person, he was equal- ruption bulldog. ties from the president of Delhi ly fluent in English, Hindi and In 1977 when the Janata University Students’ Union Punjabi which probably gave Party came to power, he was (DUSU). The contents were him the confidence to contest named as the nascent party’s brief and only requested me to the Lok Sabha poll from National Executive member, a raise the issue of permission to Amritsar in 2014 which unfor- rare honour for such a young the interned DUSU president tunately he lost to Captain man. But the next day’s news- to take his MA Final Exams in Amarinder Singh, current papers frontpaged the headline Law, permission which Chief Minister of Punjab. But that he had turned the offer required clearance from the N unfazed as always, Jaitley rose down. Many friends were University’s Academic Council up the political ranks, becom- astonished. Bewildered, I asked of which I was then a Student for breath by then and in mid- ing Prime Minister Narendra Jaitley why he spurned the Member. Although I did not January that year, it was for- Modi’s confidant and India’s honour. He called me aside on personally know Jaitley then mally relaxed and many friends second most important politi- the Coffee House courtyard and our college, namely, St were released from custody. cal personality, at least till the and said, “Remember, you Stephen’s, was not remotely We became good friends rise of Amit Shah. He was should get involved in politics involved in University politics, thereafter, especially as I was a adept at managing party affairs only on your own resources, I thought it to be my democ- University Coffee House afi- across the country and com- otherwise there will always be ratic duty to help an unfairly cionado and progressively he bined affability and authority in the temptation to accumulate interned opposition leader to too became one. This was equal measure. His one weak- easy money and you may go be allowed to sit for his exam- despite our political differ- ness was food, especially down the slippery slope and ination. ences (I was a Leftist those Punjabi cuisine, a passion he lose the respect you enjoy.” Despite some opposition in days, the Calcutta effect had was forced to abandon due to These are nuggets of the the Academic Council, Jaitley’s not worn off) but this did not mounting diabetes some years wisdom that the ever articulate plea was granted and I shortly come in the way of our deep- ago. A friend of friends, he Jaitley always bequeathed to his received another postcard con- ening friendship. I have meticulously

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