"Jaitley's polish, Western-style education and strong command of English makes him an effective foil to the rough-hewn Modi in articulating the government’s position to foreign investors, captains of industry and India’s own central bank governor" - Reuters in 2014 when Arun Jaitley was made Modi's first Finance Minister !!
Arun Jaitley was PM Narendra Modi's finance minister in the NDA-1 government. He passed away on August 24, 2019.
"Stable politics is far from their political track record. Some amongst this disparate group have an extremely dubious track record of governance. Some leaders are maverick and others include those who are either convicted or charged with serious allegations of corruption.
There are many whose political support base is confined to either a few districts or to a particular caste. To rule a large country like India through coalitions is possible but the nucleus of a coalition has to be stable." --- Arun Jaitley in 2018
(the views are relevant in 2023 also)
He also knew how to mock at journalists and many also said - his wit was often not grasped well by capital's journalists.
Once to a crowded group of scribes in his office, Late Jaitley had said - "Well then, many journalists are standing and most of the others are outstanding".
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| Comrades and friends !! |
Some of his 'friends' often joked that Jaitley could have been a good newspaper editor too. He was also called a 'bureau chief' !!
Jaitley was also a well informed and lucid blogger.
"Unlike the UPA, the Prime Minister is the natural leader of both his party and the nation. We have witnessed a journey from indecisiveness to clarity and decisiveness. India has transformed from being a part of the “fragile five” to the “bright spot” on the global economic scene. A regime of policy paralysis has been transformed into one of decisions and actions." - Jaitley wrote in 2018 on completion of four years of Modi govt.
Jaitley also had written:
"In our Prime Minister, we have a strong leader with a mass appeal. His capacity to change India’s destiny is globally recognised. His insistence on integrity, his infatigable capacity to work, his clarity of policy and direction, his boldness in taking steps in larger national interest gives the NDA a natural political advantage.
Clarity and credibility are hallmarks of the NDA Government".
The grapevine in the media has been - he knew how to plan stories for journalists and would give them 'leads'. Some bitter detractors among BJP leaders more often complained that he also knew how to 'plan' stories for or against many leaders.
A suave gentleman, a popular blog writer among politicians and someone who had the wit and dignified manner to speak out even in agonizing circumstances. True, it always went to his credit that mostly his public utterances have been impressive in both agonizing and not so agonizing situations.
So much has been his Narendra Modi's trust and confidence in him that Jaitley was made Finance Minister although the late leader did not have economic background.
His admirers say Jaitley worked long hours to implement GST very effectively. Many said he did well at that as he could at least articulate his views. Media could love him or hate him; but none could ignore him.
There are other facets !!
For long - he was the real 'Delhi' contact - the eyes and ears of Narendra Modi. And he did that job pretty well.
On political front, he was hailed as a 'good poll manager' as he often brought in electoral success to the saffron party - in states like Gujarat and Bihar.
Likes of Pramod Mahajan would have - however - differed and used to say - Jaitley never handled 'difficult states' like Assam.
Political rivals S Jaipal Reddy would mock: "He is a successful poll manager for BJP, but he never contested any big election".
This was prior to the 2014 general elections that the BJP swept riding the Modi wave. For his part, Jaitley lost the polls from Amritsar by a margin of over three lakh votes to old war horse from Congress - Capt Amarinder Singh.
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