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He hails from a family of lawyers, and was a senior Supreme Court lawyer before he put a fullstop to it in 2009.
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Former Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitely passed away at AIIMS on Saturday after prolonged illness. Jaitley had undergone dialysis on Thursday.
He was one of the few BJP members that supported PM Narendra Modi's back when he was under fire for 2004 Godhra riots.
Arun Jaitley, India's former Finance Minister, and prominent BJP leader passed away today at AIIMS.
"It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Member of Parliament (MP) at 12:07 p.m. on Saturday. Jaitley was admitted in AIIMS, New Delhi on August 9 and was treated by a multi-disciplinary team of senior doctors," said Aarti Vij, Chairperson, Media and Protocol, AIIMS.
Arun Jaitley is among the most educated politicians in India.
He hails from a family of lawyers, and was a senior Supreme Court lawyer before he put a fullstop to it in 2009.
He represented top multinationals like Pepsico and Coca Cola. He also served as the Additional Solicitor General of India.
He served prison time during the Emergency period in India (25 June 1975 – 21 March 1977).
His relations with the Bhartiya Janata Party can be traced back to the 1980s when he became the Youth Wing President, soon after it was formed.
He was also BJP's chief strategy planner for Lok Sabha Election 2014 -- the election that landed a massive victory for the brand Modi.
His intimate relationship with the PM earned him the nickname of Modi's ‘precious diamond’.
Lok Sabha Election 2014 was the first elections when Arun Jaitley stood as a candidate from the Amritsar seat. However, he lost against Congress Candidate Amarinder Singh.
He has been in good terms with Rajat Sharma, the chairman, and editor-in-chief of India TV, who happens to be his classmate from Delhi University. They have known each other for over four decades.
Jaitley has also served as the Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. However, he resigned in 2014 owing to a spot-fixing case at Indian Premier League