BJP leader Arun Jaitley, who lost the only Lok Sabha election he contested against the former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in Amritsar, has been in the forefront of the year-long campaign within the party to project Mr Narendra Modi as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.
He batted for Mr. Modi tenaciously against several odds and will be Mr Modi’s right-hand man to navigate the corridors of power in Lutyen’s Delhi, home to the rich, powerful and high profile power brokers.
Mr. Modi is likely to lean on Mr. Jaitley at least till he gets a grip over the politics at the national level.
Though lawyer by profession, he is known for his sharp political instincts and oratorical skills in the Rajya Sabha. He was one of the few political leaders to predict an impressive performance by the Aam Admi Party (AAP) in the December Assembly election at a juncture when no one was taking the party seriously. Mr. Jaitley is equally at ease in engaging lawyers, economists and is a known cricket buff.
The 62-year-old took to politics as an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) student leader in the Delhi University campus in 1970’s and rose to be president of the University Students’ Union in 1974. During Emergency (1975–77) he was under preventive detention for 19 months. Under Atal Bihari Vajpayee he served as minister in several capacities. Mr. Jaitley is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
