By Talat Mohsin

Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi on 24 August. He was 66. Jaitley is survived by his wife Sangeeta and their two children.

Jaitley was suffering from various ailments for the past few years. He was admitted in AIIMS on August 9 after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness. A multi disciplinary team of doctors was monitoring his conditions including endocrinologists, cardiologists and nephrologists.

Jaitley was considered to be one of India’s best lawyers. He was one of the few leaders who were arrested in the emergency that was declared under the Indira Gandhi government. He was a student leader at that time. He joined active politics soon after coming out of jail.

He was also a minister in the Vajpayee government. He was the leader when the BJP sat in opposition in the Lok Sabha from 2009 to 2014.

Jaitley became the finance minister when the Narendra Modi led BJP government came to power in 2014. For a brief period he also held the offices for defence and information & technology ministries. After the Modi government returned to power , he wrote to the PM that he would like to stay way from any responsibility on account of his ill health.

He will be cremated on Sunday at the Nigambodh Ghat, BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal said, according to the reports in PTI. After all the formalities will be completed in the hospital, his body will be taken to his Kailash Colony residence. On Sunday morning, the body will be taken to the BJP headquarters to let leaders pay their last respects. From there, it’ll be taken to the ghat for the last rites.