Arun Jaitley death: Key portfolios held by BJP's chief troubleshooter

Former finance minister and BJP leader Arun Jaitley held several key positions during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and the previous Modi government. From serving as the junior minister in the AB Vajpayee government to leading four key ministries in the Modi government's previous term -- Jaitley was the chief troubleshooter of the saffron party.

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During the Vajpayee government, Jaitley was given the minister of state (MoS) charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry from October 13, 1999-September 30, 2000. Another important portfolio that he held during the Vajpayee government was the law ministry. He was appointed the Minister of Law and Justice on July 29, 2003, till May 22, 2004. During UPA-2, he was elected as the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on June 3, 2009, till May 26, 2014.

The 2014 Lok Sabha elections marked a big victory for Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party and the new Modi government entrusted Jaitley with the responsibility of handling major portfolios. He was appointed the Minister of Finance on May 26, 2014, and served it till the end of the previous Modi government. However, due to his illness, the charge of the crucial ministry had to be given to BJP leader and Union minister Piyush Goyal twice for a brief period. He also led the corporate affairs ministry since the beginning of the Modi government's tenure in 2014.

Jaitley was also given the charge of the defence ministry in March 2017 for six months before Nirmala Sitharaman took over as the defence minister in 2017. Jaitley was also appointed the Minister of Information and Broadcasting on November 9, 2014, till July 5, 2016, before Prakash Javadekar took over as the information and broadcasting minister.

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Besides, he also served as the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha from May 2014-June 2019. Arun Jaitley was elected Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh on April 3, 2018.

Arun Jaitley died at AIIMS on Saturday, August 24 after his prolonged kidney-related illness. The 66-year-old BJP stalwart, who was suffering from diabetes, had developed major kidney complications in 2018. He underwent kidney transplant surgery at the AIIMS, Delhi, on May 14, 2018. Due to his health issues, Arun Jaitley even opted out of the Modi 2.0 Cabinet.

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