The untimely passing away of Arun Jaitley, 66, at AIIMS in Delhi on Saturday after prolonged illness days after the death of former Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, 67, and months following the demise of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, 59, has almost ended the frontline of BJP group of leaders, described as D-4 — the Delhi-centric leadership that dominated the BJP politics for almost three-decades.
Unlike Sushma and Kumar, it was Jaitley who remained the ears and eyes of the Modi Government and the party, presently held in a tight grip by Modi and party president Amit Shah and in fact made a “trimurti” deciding important decisions at all levels.
So much so that even after Jaitley lost his maiden Lok Sabha poll in 2014 to Captain Amarinder Singh from Amritsar, Modi retained him at the heart of his dispensation.
A suave and modern face who won the saffron party new allies and remained a bridge between the so-called hard and soft ideologues, the late BJP leader never fancied himself to be charmed by the ‘extreme-line’ of politics in the BJP even as he took logical road to defend party’s ideological convictions at all forum as its senior leader and main spokesperson.
Soon after party’s defeat in 2004 when party held its National Executive in Mumbai with the talk of ‘succession’ in the air and party leaders articulating themselves as who would be Atal Bihari’s ‘Laxman’ or ‘ Hanuman’, Jaitley used to give a broad smile when asked as in what role he sees himself in the ongoing ‘ Ramayan’ “I am not into it..”, he said wryly with a smile on his face.
Despite being one of the most powerful decision maker in the BJP Governments, he was a happy and good natured man with nice manners. And he had a very good sense of humour that he would appreciate in others.
Jaitley, known for his deft strategic moves and ready articulation, all through his political journey tread a middle-path and as to his own admission was not a given to take “extreme positions” in political and ideological battles.
“I have friends in all political parties and have good relations with..” , he said one of his umpteenth Rs de-briefingsRs in his room number 27 at Parliament house where scribes would go to get the pulse of the government which was turning difficult to Rs feelRs with a kind of ‘iron curtain’ around the working of the party and government in the post-Vajpayee era.
Jaitley held his sway as party saw many ups and downs in its fortune, particularly after the surprise defeat at the hustings in 2004 and power struggle that followed with Narendra Modi seen to be the main challenger to the throne at Delhi. An experienced lawyer, the late leader, had by the time emerged as a close confidante and advisor to Modi and was one of the first to back his candidature as BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate.
His closeness to Modi was all too visible as he was given the key portfolio of finance minister along with that of the Defence , leaving the conjectures open whether he would be the number two after the Prime Minister or Rajnath Singh.
Last year, while releasing one of Jaitley’s edited books at BJP headquarters, Amit Shah recollected party’s struggle during the emergency days and in the process also pointed out that Jaitley was also arrested on June 10,1976, and spent 19 moths in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
Shah, however, digressed from the main topic and wondered as to how Jaitley gained weight during his incarceration in Tihar when other party leaders turned slim by shedding many kilos. As Shah looked at Jaitley, he demurely smiled and allowed everyone in the hall to have a good laugh at his expense. An affable man, more than a politician, gone too early.
