Arun Jaitley is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India and a prominent Indian politician. He has served on many crucial cabinet portfolios in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government, and the Narendra Damodardas Modi government.
Arun Jaitley, the former Indian Finance Minister and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), passed away on Saturday. He was 66 years old.
Arun Jaitley was unwell from the last two years. In 2018, Arun Jaitley underwent kidney transplant surgery. Four years earlier, in the year 2014, Arun Jaitley underwent a bariatric surgery to address the excess weight he had gained due to diabetes.
Arun Jaitley, as finance minister presented all of the first-term of Narendra Modi government’s budgets. Due to his health issues, he was unable to present the Interim Budget of the year 2019, presented by his colleague Piyush Goyal, instead.
Check out the article to know more about Arun Jaitley‘s Bio, Wiki, Education, Family, Career, Achievements and more.
Arun Jaitley Biography/Wiki
Arun Jaitley was born in New Delhi, India on 28 December 1952. His age is 66 years; as in 2018, and his zodiac sign is Capricorn.
In 1973, he completed his schooling from the St. Xavier’s School, New Delhi.
In 1977, he pursued a degree in B.Com (Honours) from the Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi. After his graduation/degree, he sought another degree Bachelor of Law (B.L.) in 1977, from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, New Delhi.
In college, he was a student leader and a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). He contested in the college elections and won the post of the President of the Delhi Student’s Union in the year 1974. As he was elected as President, the election marked the end of the Congress party era, where it had a stronghold all over the university campuses. He stated in an interview- “My election as an ABVP candidate marked a watershed in the student politics of the country.”
On June 25, 1975, during the Emergency period of 1975-1977, he saw a policeman talking to his father outside his house. Jaitley was an activist of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at the time, and Jayaprakash Narayan chose him as the convener of his “The Loktantric Yuva Morcha,” a youth committee. Arun Jaitley escaped from his house, and the next day, he organized a protest. At the time of holding the protest, he did not know that the Emergency had been imposed, and he gathered 300 people. The police made mass arrests. Jaitley was kept into the Jail for 19 months, in the Ambala Jail and Tihar Jail.
Physical Appearance
Height: 5′ 7″ (approx.)
Weight: 65 kg (approx.)
Eyes Colour: Black
Hair Colour: Black (Semi-bald)
Family, Wife, Children & Caste
Arun Jaitley was born to a Punjabi Brahmin family. Maharaj Kishen Jaitley, his father, was a lawyer. Ratan Prabha Jaitley, his mother, was a social activist. He has an elder sister named Madhu Bhargava.
On 24 May 1982, he got married to Sangeeta Dogra. They have two children, Rohan (Son) and Sonali (Daughter).
Legal Career
In 1977, Arun Jaitley started practicing Law. He practiced in various High Courts, and also in the Supreme Court of India.
He represented many Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and the Aditya Birla Group. In 1989, he was appointed as the Additional Solicitor General of India.
In January 1990, Delhi High Court designated Arun Jaitley as a Senior Advocate. In June 1998, he was sent to the General Assembly Session of the United Nations (UN) as an Indian Government’s delegate. There, the Declaration of Law relating to drugs and money laundering was approved.
Under his guidance, the High Courts of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand were inaugurated. He had famous clients such as Lal Krishna Advani, Madhavrao Scindia, Sharad Yadav, and many more in his list. Jaitley had filed the petition and worked on the paperwork for the Bofors Scandal investigations.
Arun Jaitley passed the 84th Amendment to the Constitution of India; which enabled the freezing of Parliamentary seats until 2026, in 2002. He passed the bill of 91st Amendment to the Constitution of India; which penalized defections, in 2004. On 3 June 2009, he stopped practicing law as he was appointed the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
Arun Jaitley Political Career
In 1980, Arun Jaitley joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was appointed as the secretary of the Delhi Unit and the President of the BJP’s Youth Wing.
He was taken into the BJP’s National Executive Body in 1991. On 13 October 1999, he appointed as the Minister of State for Disinvestment (Independent Charge) and the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge) in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
In the same year, just before the General Elections, Jaitley was appointed as the spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On 23 July 2000, after Ram Jethmalani resignation, he was given the additional charge of the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Company Affairs.
In 2000, he was elected for the first time as a member of the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. In November 2000, Jaitley was given Cabinet Ministry. He took charge as the Minister of Law, Justice, and Company Affairs, and the Minister of Shipping.
He resigned as the Minister of Shipping on 1 September 2001. On 1 July 2002, he resigned to the Union Ministry of Law, Justice, and Company Affairs and joined as the national spokesperson and the General Secretary of the BJP. On 29 January 2003, he again joined the Cabinet as the Minister of Law & Justice and the Minister of Commerce & Industry.
When NDA lost the General Elections held in 2014, Jaitley resumed his role the National spokesperson and as the General Secretary of the BJP.
He was re-elected as a Rajya Sabha Member in 2006 and 2012 from Gujarat. On 3 June 2009, Lal Krishna Advani has chosen Jaitley as the Opposition’s Leader in the Rajya Sabha. On 16 June 2009, he resigned the BJP’s General Secretary post; due to the party’s One Man-One Post principle. As the Opposition’s Leader, he played a very important role during the discussion of the Reservation Bill for Women. He extended his support to Anna Hazare’s “Jan Lokpal Bill” in the Rajya Sabha.
Jaitley had never contested on an election when he joined the BJP from 1991. He contested his first election against Amarinder Singh in 2014 from the Amritsar Lok Sabha Constituency. He lost the election, but later he was appointed as the Union Finance Minister in the Narendra Modi Government. Additionally, he was given the charge of the Minister of Corporate Affairs and the Minister of Defence.
In September 2016, he announced the Central Government’s Income Declaration Scheme; a scheme started to grab the black money, and bring it back to India. During his term, Jaitley as the Finance Minister, the Government demonetized the Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 currency notes of the Mahatma Gandhi series. It was a measure taken to prevent corruption, black money, and fake currency. The Government also introduced new currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000.
In December 2014, Arun Jaitley successfully passed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the Parliament. In February 2015, he set a deadline to implement GST, i.e., 1 April 2017. After an Amendment Bill was passed on August 2016, the Amendment of GST Bill was agreed upon by the opposition and was then sent to the President for his assent. GST was launched by the President and the Government of India, in the central hall of the Parliament on 1 July 2017. The launch time was set for a midnight session, and many high-profile guests including Ratan Tata attended it. He was elected as a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh in 2018.
The BJP won the May 2019 General Elections with a huge majority. Many media houses expected that Arun Jaitley would be the Finance Minister again. A day before the swearing-in ceremony, on 29 May 2019, Arun Jaitley wrote a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi; requesting not to include him in the Cabinet and stated that he should be allowed some more time, to focus on his health and treatment.
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Arun Jaitley Controversies
- Arun Jaitley warned the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), on September 2012, on corruption cases against the policemen and political leaders of Gujarat. He stated- “The cases filed against the top policemen and political leaders are an utter misuse of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the cases would not stand in any court of law.”
- In January 2019, Jaitley accused the CBI of “investigative adventurism” in regards to the ICICI Bank-Videocon fraud case. The CBI had named former ICICI Bank MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar, as beneficiaries in the financial fraud. Jaitley stated that naming corrupt bank officials will not help in the investigation, but going after the real people responsible would help the case.
Achievements, Awards, and Honours
- Arun Jaitley named as the Finance Minister of the Year (Asia), by a London based Publication named Emerging Markets on 13 October 2015.
- ET Awards awarded him the Business Reformer and Policy Change Maker Agent of the Year on 5 September 2017.
- He received the Business Line‘s Change Maker of the Year Award for his contributions towards GST, on 16 March 2019, the award was presented from the hands of Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Money Factor, Income, Net Worth, & Salary
- Salary: As a Rajya Sabha’s Member, 1 Lac INR and including additional allowances.
- Net Worth: Nearly, 111.42 Crores INR (as in 2018).
Address
- 6, Tapas Bungalows, Prahlad Nagar, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Assets & Properties
- Cash: 11.53 Lacs INR.
- Bank Deposits: 1.14 Crores INR.
- Jewelry: 3154 gms of Gold worth 81.46 Lakhs INR; 15.80 kg of Silver worth 6.04 Lakhs INR; Diamonds worth 45 Lakhs INR.
- He has Non-agricultural land (worth 90 Lakhs INR) in Faridabad, Haryana and 6 Residential Buildings (worth 28.70 Crores INR) in Gurugram, Delhi, Punjab, and Gujarat.
- Commercial Building: Worth of 6 Crores INR in Gurugram, Haryana.
Car Collection
- Arun Jaitley has a Toyota Fortuner of 2011 Model, and 2 Mercedes-Benz cars of 2012 & 2017 Models).
Facts of Arun Jaitley
- He considered Jayaprakash Narayan as his mentor.
- In 2013, he was the Vice-President of the BCCI, but he resigned after the IPL spot-fixing scandal.
- In the late 1970s, he had met Narendra Damodardas Modi during his college time. Arun Jaitley had helped Modi winning the 2002 and 2007 Gujarat State Assembly Elections.
- Ridhi Dogra and Akshay Dogra, his niece, and nephew are Indian television actors.
- He has been the principal strategist for the BJP. Modi always takes Arun Jaitley’s advice during a crisis or situation.
- Jaitley was one of the first party leaders in the BJP to suggest Narendra Modi’s name for the BJP’s election contestant candidate for the Prime Minister before the General Elections held in 2014.
Unseen Images:
Images Source/Credit: https://www.arunjaitley.com (Official Website)
Reference: Wikipedia-Arun Jaitley (Topic)