Arun Jaitley, t
he veteran BJP leader died at 12:07 pm on Saturday at Delhi’s AIIMS, two weeks after he was admitted following complaints of breathlessness.
“It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of Shri Arun Jaitley. Shri Arun Jaitley was admitted in AIIMS, New Delhi on 09/08/2019 and was treated by a multidisciplinary team of senior doctors,” said AIIMS in a brief statement.
Hundreds of leaders from political parties and leading personalities from the society visited his south Delhi home last evening to pay their last respects.
Today, his body will be kept at the BJP headquarters in Delhi upto 1 pm where party workers and leaders will pay tributes.
The last rites will take place at the Nigambodh Ghat at 2:30 pm.
“I can’t imagine that I am so far here while my friend has gone away. Some days ago, we lost our former External Affairs Minister Behen Sushma Ji. Today I have lost my friend Arun,” PM Narendra Modi on official visit to Bahrain after visiting France said.
A lawyer by the profession, Mr Jaitley had been an important part in PM Modi’s cabinet in the BJP government’s first term.
He held the finance and defence portfolios. During his tenure as finance minister, he led the enactment of Note-Bandhi, a bankruptcy code and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).