Arun Jaitley dies: Former Finance minister passes away at 66

Arun Jaitley death latest news: Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Arun Jaitley passed away on Saturday afternoon after a prolonged illness. He was 66. Jaitley was admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi earlier this month after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness.

In a statement issued, AIIMS said that Jaitley breathed his last at 12:07 PM. “It is with profound grief that we inform about the sad demise of Shri Arun Jaitley, honourable Member of Parliament and former Finance minister, Government of India, at 12:07 PM on 24th August, 2019,” the hospital said in a statement.

Last evening, a PTI report said that the health of Arun Jaitley deteriorated further. He was put on life support system for almost one week. A multidisciplinary team of doctors were monitoring his condition.

Arun Jaitley was the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs in the first tenure tenure of Modi government from 2014 to 2019. A member of the BJP, Jaitley had served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha from 2009 to 2014. He is also a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court. The 66-year-old politician decided not to join the Modi Cabinet in May 2019 due to health issues.

In 1999, after the Vajpayee government of the BJP led National Democratic Alliance came to power, Jaitley was appointed MoS for Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge). He was also appointed MoS for Disinvestment (Independent Charge), a new ministry created for the first time to give effect to the policy of disinvestments under the WTO regime.

Besides, he was given additional charge of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs following Ram Jethmalani's resignation in July 2000.