In a departure from parliamentary norms, the Rajya Sabha allowed many leaders from various parties, instead of just the Chairman of the House, to pay tributes to five parliamentarians, including former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Members recounted their personal experiences with Arun Jaitley, Ram Jethmalani, Jagannath Mishra, Sukhdev Singh Libra and Gurudas Dasgupta.
“He was a democrat to the core and a consummate strategist, knowing when to take a hard stance and when to be accommodative. This talent combined with his innate and unique ability of offering solutions, without compromising on the basic position, made him the most effective interlocutor of the government, both inside and outside Parliament,” Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu said about Jaitely.
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Champion of the law
Referring to Ram Jethmalani, he said the country had lost an advocate par excellence, a great champion of legal assistance to the needy and an outstanding parliamentarian.
Jaitley’s death, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, was a loss not only to the BJP but also to the country.
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Deputy Leader of the Opposition Anand Sharma said Jaitley was a bridge builder between the Opposition and the treasury benches.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien said, “Polar opposite in ideology across the floor, occasional duellist with us in the media — was yet, to many of us, he [Arun Jaitley] was a mentor in Parliament,” he said.
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar recounted the beginning of his relationship with Jaitley as adversaries in the election to the Delhi & District Cricket Association but never let bitterness seep in.
Many members paid glowing tributes to Gurudas Dasgupta too. Binoy Viswam of the CPI said Dasgupta had fought all his life for the working class. “His slogan to the workers was, ‘live to fight and fight to live’,” Mr. Viswam said.