Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh puts it succinctly: "Arun Jaitley was every non-BJP person's favourite BJP-ite."
The 66-year-old finance minister underwent a successful kidney transplant surgery in mid-May and was on leave since April due to kidney-related problems and chest infection.
With the tablet carefully kept inside a red cover with a golden-coloured national emblem embossed on it instead of the briefcase, Parliament will be her next destination after the call on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Without the handsome receipts from the sale of government equity in PSUs and sharp increases in excise revenues from oil, Mr Jaitley's fiscal consolidation drive would have become even more arduous, says A K Bhattacharya.
A consensus builder, Jaitley was regarded by some as Modi's original 'Chanakya'.
Jaitley is now a minister without portfolio in the Narendra Modi government.
'Reports in a section of media regarding Union Minister Shri Arun Jaitley's health condition are false and baseless. Media is advised to stay clear of rumour mongering,' Government Spokesman Sitanshu Kar tweeted.
'Your relationship with your child is changing every single day, ditto your relationship with your parents.'
If one were to go by the degree of clout, Jaitley was the undoubted No. 2 in the Modi government.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das and Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg are also expected to attend the meetings.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will set a record by presenting the sixth Budget in a row -- 5 annual Budgets and one interim -- a feat achieved so far only by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. With the presentation of interim Budget on February 1, Sitharaman will surpass the records of her predecessors like Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, and Yashwant Sinha, who had presented five budgets in a row. Desai, as Finance Minister, had presented five annual Budgets and one interim Budget between 1959-1964. The interim Budget 2024-25 to be presented by Sitharaman on February 1, will be a vote-on-account that will give the government authority to spend certain sums of money till a new government comes to office after the April-May general elections.
BJP workers and mourners queued up in large numbers outside the party headquarters since morning to pay their last respects to the leader.
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Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Thaawarchand Gehlot, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Santosh Gangwar, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, BJP national general-secretary Arun Singh and party MP Maneka Gandhi also visited the hospital to know about his wellbeing.
Going by the number of changes Mr Jaitley's next Budget is likely to see, he will go down in the history of Budget-making as the finance minister who ushered in the largest number of changes in a single Budget, says A K Bhattacharya.
The finance minister continues to be backed by the same policy team in charting out the broad strategy as in the few earlier Budgets.
For his first Budget in July 2014, Jaitley inherited a fiscal deficit target of 4.1 per cent of GDP. From 4.1 per cent, the fiscal deficit came down to 3.4 per cent by 2018-19, with two slippages from the budgeted targets, in 2017-18 and 2018-19, the former due to introduction of the GST, says Arup Roychoudhury.
The BJP stalwart's body was later brought to his residence at Kailash Colony.
It is unclear if he would be renamed the finance minister soon after his return.
This is Jaitley's first overseas visit since his kidney ailment was confirmed in April last year.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram on Friday rejected Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's contention in Lok Sabha that UPA government left behind double digit inflation.
The minister without portfolio is recovering well after his kidney transplant and has started walking in his hospital room.
In the four-paragraph letter, Jaitley said he had orally informed Modi about his desire not to be a part of the new BJP government to enable him to concentrate on treatment and health.
However, Jaitley's son-in-law had earlier issued a statement stating that his law firm had returned the retainership the moment they came to know that the company was involved in a scam.
Jaitley will be cremated on Sunday afternoon at the Nigambodh Ghat, BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal said.
Never before in post-reforms India have Union Budgets seen a steady reduction in fiscal deficit for five consecutive years, points out A K Bhattacharya.
If Jaitley is finalised for the First Citizen's post, Modi will have scored two strategic goals, reports Rajeev Sharma.
Jaitley, who was the finance minister before a medical procedure led to the charge being temporarily taken away from him, missed presenting the sixth and final Budget of the Narendra Modi government before the general elections. In his absence, the charge of the ministry was given to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal.
To write a criticism of the finance minister's performance without having included the PM's role is deliberate. It is not difficult to see why Jaitley interpreted it as being Sinha's way of sucking up to Modi.
It appears the row over the article penned by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha refuses to die down.
'His passing away is very saddening. Spoke to his wife Sangeeta Ji as well as son Rohan, and expressed condolences. Om Shanti.'
The prime minister tweeted, "On this day, last year, we lost Shri Arun Jaitley Ji. I miss my friend a lot. Arun Ji diligently served India. His wit, intellect, legal acumen and warm personality were legendary. Here is what I had said during a prayer meeting in his memory."
Cricket administration was among the many hats Arun Jaitley wore in public life and in his death, the players remembered the man who seamlessly juggled roles, and stood by them in their hour of need.
Jaitley's tenure as defence minister saw clearance of a number of big ticket reform measures and simplification of military acquisition process.
More and more states are organising investor summits, Jaitley said.
The battle on creating jobs is virtually lost. If the battle for achieving higher growth too is lost, then its political consequences could become difficult to manage, says A K Bhattacharya.
The remarks came amid reports of mounting tension between the finance ministry and the RBI over the autonomy of monetary policy makers.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has unilaterally withdrawn the defamation case filed against Arun Jaitley, the Union finance minister.
Government will lay greater emphasis on social sectors, finance minister said.
"It is about time that India and its institutions are protected from these 'institution wreckers'," said Jaitley.
