Murli Manohar Joshi grieves Arun Jaitley's demise

Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Sunday expressed profound grief over the demise of Arun Jaitley and said that the former finance minister had personal relations with people across the board and was quite popular among the political fraternity.

"I knew Jaitley since his college days when he was the president of DUSU. I knew him for the past 50 years. He was an able party worker. The leaders from Opposition parties were also friends with him. He left an impression even on senior leaders like JP Narayan," he said.

"At times, his views differed from us on economics and state issues. But, he used to listen to our views with patience. He also made efforts to take the party forward while he was the spokesperson," added Joshi.

Jaitley passed away on Saturday at AIIMS hospital in New Delhi. He was 66 years old. He was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on August 9 after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness.

Jaitley was kept under observation at the Cardio Neuro Centre of the hospital. However, his condition kept on deteriorating. Arun Jaitley's last rites were performed on Sunday afternoon at the Nigambodh Ghat in the capital.