The camaraderie former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley shared with Opposition leaders was reflected in the rich tributes that poured in on Saturday at his passing away, with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh calling his demise a great loss to the country.
“In his death, our country has lost a great leader who always worked for the betterment of society,”said Dr. Singh in his message to Sangeeta Jaitley, the late BJP leader’s wife.
Former President Pranab Mukherjee said he had visited him a day back and had prayed for his speedy recovery. “He was a leader with deep intellect and knowledge, and a voice of reason. He will be dearly missed. My prayers with his family, friends and admirers,” he said on Twitter.
Senior Congress leaders, including party president Sonia Gandhi, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, visited Mr. Jaitley’s residence in Greater Kailash and offered condolences to his family. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Trinamool’s Dinesh Trivedi also visited his home.
Former Law Minister Kapil Sibal remembered his lawyer colleague as a “consensus builder, story teller and man who never took extreme positions in politics”.
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said, “We have known each other for over four decades from our student days until our time in Parliament.”
Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who worked with Mr. Jaitley as a member of the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI), said: “Arun Jaitley Ji’s demise is a huge loss to the nation. He was a brilliant lawyer and parliamentarian, whom I personally admired and from whom I have derived immense learning.”
CPI general secretary D. Raja said Mr. Jaitley was an easily accessible Minister who would reach out to the Opposition.
“We first met when he was at DUSU and I was president of St. Stephen’s College Union. Despite political differences, we enjoyed a healthy mutual respect and debated his Budget often. A great loss for India,” Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said.
