Fadnavis terms Jaitley's demise as his personal loss; Das, Sawant too express grief

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and his Jharkhand and Goa counterparts Raghubar Das and Pramod Sawant on Saturday expressed their grief over the sad demise of former Union Minister Arun Jaitley.

Expressing his shock, Fadnavis told ANI: "Shocked and deeply pained to know about our great leader Arun Jaitley ji. It is more painful as we lost another great leader a few days after Sushma Swaraj Ji's demise."

Terming it as a personal loss, the Chief Minister said: "I extend my deepest condolences to his family, friends, and crores of BJP Karyakartas. It is like a personal loss for me. He was a great student leader, a crusader against the Emergency, advocate of civil rights and a strong fighter."

Further, he said: "We have seen him extensively campaigning for the BJP during the 2019 elections through his blogs. Despite having health issues, he had actively participated in almost all the party meetings."

"Jaitley ji will be remembered for his contributions as Minister for Finance, Defence, Information and Broadcasting, Law and Justice, and also as the Leader of Opposition," Fadnavis said.

He also said that Jaitley's contribution in rolling out of the GST was immense and this couldn't have done without a leader like him.

Owing to Jaitley's demise, Fadnavis on Saturday cancelled his 'Mah Janadesh Yatra' and amended the programmes of the Yatra scheduled for tomorrow.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das took to Twitter to share his grief.

"Saddened by Jaitley ji's demise; BJP family has lost one of its integral members today. I pray to the almighty to give peace to the departed soul and give strength to his family at this time of grief," Das tweeted.

Goa Chief Minister Promod Sawant tweeted: "Deeply saddened by the demise of former Finance Minister & senior BJP leader Shri Arun Jaitley ji. A politician with stellar intellect who was respected by all. Under his tenure as FM the nation has seen a successful rollout of landmark economic reforms."

"His contribution to the nation will never be forgotten. My thoughts and prayers are with his family in this hour of distress," read the tweet.

Earlier in the day, confirming the senior BJP leader's demise, Protocol Division of AIIMS stated that Jaitley breathed his last on Saturday afternoon.

Jaitley was admitted to the AIIMS earlier this month after he complained of restlessness. He was placed under observation at the hospital's Cardio-Neuro-Centre.

Jaitley first became a Cabinet minister in the government of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000. He then also went on to serve as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha from June 2009.

He was appointed the Finance Minister in the first term of Modi government in 2014. He opted out of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections citing health reasons.