New Delhi: In yet another untimely and shocking loss for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), former Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley passed away at the age of 66 on Tuesday. He was suffering from multiple health issues for several months. Arun Jaitley was admitted to AIIMS on August 9. He was critical and was constantly kept under observation at the ICU. Arun Jaitley breathed his last at 12.07 pm on August 24.
The veteran BJP leader will be cremated at the Nigambodh Ghat in the afternoon. Almost all top BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh reached the Jaitley residence on Saturday to be with the family and console them while Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is away on a tour, mourned his friend from afar. PM Modi during an address in Bahrain expressed sadness that his friend left while he is away. Arun Jaitley was BJP’s man of all seasons. He was the man the BJP would turn to solve problems and address issues publicly. He was the BJP’s troubleshooter-in-chief. The legal luminary and veteran party leader was responsible for ushering in the biggest tax reforms in the country in the form of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2017.
Former minister Arun Jaitley’s body is being taken to the BJP office in a gun carriage that is usually used for Prime Ministers, Presidents and Defence Ministers. Arun Jaitley, who held the defence portfolio in the first term of the Modi government, passed away on Saturday. His body is now being taken to the BJP headquarters.
Arun Jaitley’s mortal remains will be brought to the BJP headquarters at the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg around 10.30 am for his admirers and followers to pay their last respects. From the BJP headquarters, it will be taken to the Nigambodh Ghat on the banks of the Yamuna River for performing the last rites around 2.30 pm.
