Why Arun Jaitley, finance and defence minister, is also 'yaaron ka yaar'

Arun Jaitley, for thousands of politics watchers in the recent times, has been the impeccable defender for BJP and relentless critic of the UPA in the Parliament. Despite losing by a huge margin in this year’s polls, nobody ever doubted that Jaitley will land a plum portfolio by virtue of being a member of the Rajya Sabha. And that’s exactly what happened - Jaitley slipped into Chidambaram’s shoes for the NDA government and took up the responsibility of the finance ministry. Additionally, he was also given charge of defence ministry despite strong lobbying from senior BJP MPs like Murli Manohar Joshi. Jaitley’s budget was one of the most anticipated ones in recent history. However, most columnists noted that there was little that was exceptional about the budget and many spotted strong UPA imprints on it. [caption id=“attachment_1618573” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Arun Jaitley. AFP.[/caption] However, that is least likely to dent Jaitley’s image anytime soon. Like an article on India Today points out, outside the Parliament, even his strongest critics mostly have good things to say about our current Finance Minister. The editor of a leading news channel calls him ‘Yaaron Ka Yaar’. The article begins with a description of his home in Kailash Colony. It begins with pointing out how Jaitley’s table in his house has two pictures - one of late Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia and another of late hotelier-cum-politician Lalit Suri. Both Suri and Scindia is believed to have been close to Jaitley. His being from the BJP didn’t stop him from respecting and openly cherishing his friendship with other political leaders. Needless to say, that’s an asset for even the party he belongs to. The article quotes Shobhana Bhartia, chairperson of Hindustan Times as saying, “Madahvrao, Lalit, Arun and I as well as several others were friends in our private lives. What remains remarkable though, is Jaitley’s ability to cut across party lines and separate the political from the personal which has become increasingly rare in India.” The India Today article, The money is on him by Jyoti Malhotra is not available online yet.