Arun Jaitley Memorial Debate: VP Jagdeep Dhankhar hails Jaitley for bringing GST, lauds his ‘persuasive’ skills

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar has hailed former Finance Minister and BJP leader Arun Jaitley for his initiative to roll out Goods and Sales Tax (GST) in the country and said that a more appreciable fact of the matter was that he could complete the tough task with great wisdom and patience.

“While Arun Jaitley excelled in every walk of life, his forte was debate and in the debate, he had always shown restraint, patience. He never believed in aggression, he believed in persuasion. He always believed that you understand the others point of view, give due weightage to others point of view and then deal with others point of view,” the Vice President made the remarks at the award ceremony of the first ‘Arun Jaitley Memorial Debate’ at Shri Ram College of Commerce in New Delhi on April 26.

He said attending such a debating function in honour of the Late Arun Jaitley was a matter of both pride and pain for him.

Recalling his long association with the deceased BJP leader and an eminent lawyer, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said he misses him daily as Chairman of Rajya Sabha.

The Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar cited an illustration to try to recall some of the virtues of the late leader.

“There was an occasion when Arun ji was leader of the House and the Finance Minister. There came a moment when a Member of Parliament reflected that when I was a Minister my secretary…. Arun ji got up and said that when we serve the nation in various position, so many people confide in us, we must never reveal it we must take that and put only to our maker. In the process, he exemplified the sublimity, the depth of human nature,” Jagdeep Dhankhar said.

He also said there never ever was any “anguish of anger in the thought process” of Arun Jaitley. “….he would always live with us, he will always be in our thoughts, he (Jaitley) has created that kind of a goodwill which can never perish,” Jagdeep Dhankhar stated, adding, “Those who are in command today know his worth. Some of the challenges that country is facing today have been closure to a resolution with this great son so he being around”.

Jagdeep Dhankhar said as Leader of the Opposition, Late Arun Jaitley would yield space to the Government. “The Government (then UPA) was always assured that with a rational mind, your point of view will be appreciated, something we miss today to the detriment of political governance”.

“Then Arun Jaitley ji became the leader of the house, a rare distinction, and nothing changed except his seat. One thing that changed was his humility which was all time high earlier, he added to that. He was absolutely composed while reflecting with the Judiciary, with utmost respect. The discourse which he set afloat is memorable and a guiding principle to us,” Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said.

He further mentioned that “Shri Jaitley happens to be the brightest star of the Central Hall of the Political Theatre of Parliament. He was known to achieve things without making noise”.

He said, “In the history of this country so far, we have had two glorious occasions for central hall. One, when India got independence, Tryst with Destiny and second, when GST was rolled out. He was spinally the architect of GST, which was the toughest task, no one could believe was attainable but he attained it”.

Late Arun Jaitley created a mechanism that decisions will be taken only with “unanimity and during his time there was not a single dissent”, he said.

The Vice President also said, “Arun Jaitley ji created institutions and mentored many people who got the highest positions as Law Officers, Parliamentarians, Ministers and I happen to be one of them”.

Born on December 28 1952, Arun Jaitley expired on August 24 2019, following illness.

Some of his best debates were during the Lokpal crisis, the Liberhan Commission report on Ayodhya in 2010 and of course, the GST Bill.

On March 27, 2019, during the height of the election campaign, Arun Jaitley displayed his oratory skill.

Criticising the Congress for allegedly trying to make a mountain out of a molehill in reference to PM Modi making the announcement about the space mission, Arun Jaitley had said: “When the finger points to the moon, the idiot always points to the finger”.

In 2014, Arun Jaitley had written wrote: “The Union Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde has en ever smiling face. He is a man known for his courteous behaviour. Surprisingly he has chosen to threaten the electronic media which he finds is no longer Government friendly”.

“….Why blame the social media? By its very character, it is bound to be a little blunt but somewhat irresponsible at times. It is incapable of censorship”.