Sat 24 August 2019:
Arun Jaitley, India’s former finance minister and a key member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first-term Cabinet, died on Saturday. He was 66.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences announced Jaitley’s death on Saturday. He was admitted to hospital two weeks ago after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness.
Jaitley held the finance portfolio in Mr Modi’s government from 2014 until this year but chose not to run for re-election in May’s polls because of poor health.
Mr Modi, who was on a visit to the UAE, mourned Jaitley’s pasing in a series of tweets, saying he had lost a “valued friend” whose “insight on issues and nuanced understanding of matters had very few parallels”.
As finance minister during Mr Modi’s first term, Jaitley oversaw the implementation of a number of key reforms: replacing India’s complex tax system with a nationwide goods and services tax, and passing an insolvency and bankruptcy code to lessen the troubles of debt-laden banks.
A lawyer by training, he has also represented multinational companies such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, as well as famous Indians including the billionaire Birla family in an inheritance dispute.
Jaitley suffered from numerous health problems. He was diabetic and received a kidney transplant last year. He also had triple heart bypass surgery when he was 52 and underwent weight-loss surgery in 2014.
He was unable to present the budget this year as he was receiving treatment in the United States.
He is the second senior member of Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party to die this month.
With the demise of Arun Jaitley Ji, I have lost a valued friend, whom I have had the honour of knowing for decades. His insight on issues and nuanced understanding of matters had very few parallels. He lived well, leaving us all with innumerable happy memories. We will miss him!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 24, 2019
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