Arun Jaitley
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Arun Jaitley (born December 28, 1952), is an Indian politician and has served as a minister for commerce, industry, law and justice of the Union Government of India.
He was born in New Delhi. He did his schooling from St. Xavier's School, New Delhi, finishing school in 1969-70. He graduated in Commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi (1973). He graduated in Law from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi in 1977.
He has been practicing law before the Supreme Court of India and several High Courts in the country since 1977. He is a designated Senior Advocate. He was the Additional Solicitor General of India for the Government of India in the year 1990. He has authored several publications on legal and current affairs. He has presented a Paper on Law relating to Corruption and Crime in India before the Indo British Legal Forum. He was a delegate on behalf of the Government of India to the United Nations General Assembly Session in June 1998 where the Declaration on Law relating to Drugs and Money Laundering was approved.
Arun Jaitley became the spokesman of the Bharatiya Janata Party during the period preceding the 1999 general election. He has since been accused by several in the party of giving off the record briefings to spread rumours. Subsequently, he joined the council of ministers as the Minister of State with independent charge of the newly created Department of Disinvestment on October 13, 1999. He took over as Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (independent charge) in 1999 and got additional charge of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs. On November 7, 2000 he was elevated as a Cabinet Minister with the charge of Law, Justice and Company Affairs and the additional charge of the Ministry of Shipping. He demitted office as Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs on July 1, 2002 to join as General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) and functioned as its national spokesman till January, 2003. He joined the Union Cabinet again as the Minister of Commerce & Industry and Law &Justice on 29 January, 2003.
On January 28, 2004, he announced the Cabinet decision to free gold and silver imports from restrictions. With the defeat of the National Democratic Alliance (India) in May 2004, Jaitley returned to serving the Bharatiya Janata Party as a General Secretary, and back to his legal career. He is currenctly representing the Birla family in their legal battle against R. S. Lodha on the question of ownership of Birla Corporation Limited. He is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat (As of March 2006) and has never contested any election.
[edit] Track Record
Arun Jaitley as General Secretary has managed 6 Assembly elections as of February 2007. Most recently, he oversaw the BJP's success in Punjab.
Gujarat In 2002, Arun Jaitley helped his close associate, Narendra Modi win the Gujarat Assembly Elections with a landslide mandate, winning 126 out of 182 seats. This partnership has rewarded Arun Jaitley with Rajya Sabha nominations.
Madhya Pradesh In 2003, Arun Jaitley, managed the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. He along with Uma Bharti won a thumping majority of 173 out of 230 in the MP Assembly. Uma Bharti, the Chief Minister and Arun Jaitley would then fall out leading to the former's expulsion.
Karnataka Arun Jaitley was specifically put in charge of Karnataka, which went to polls simultaneously with the Lok Sabha in may 2004. Karnataka is the only southern state in which the BJP has a sizeable presence and a positive mandate for the BJP was expected. The results were excellent. The BJP won 18 out of 26 Lok Sabha Seats in the State and emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly, capturing 83 seats, as opposed to the Congress' 68 and the Janata Dal Secular's 59. The Congress and JDS forged a coalition to form the government with the Congress' Dharam Singh becoming Chief Minister. This however, did not last. In January 2006, disgruntled JDS leaders, led by H D Kumaraswamy decided to form a coalition government in the state in partnership with BJP. The understanding was that after half the remaining term of the Assembly, the BJP would have its own Chief Minister in the State. As of now, the BJP's B S Yediyurappa is the Deputy Chief Minister in the State.
Bihar In 2005, after the February elections resulted in a hung verdict, re-elections were held in November. This election was fought by the BJP in coalition with the JD(U). He was the chief strategist of the NDA combine. Nitish Kumar of the JDU was instated as Chief Minister and the BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi was installed as Deputy Chief Minister.
West Bengal In 2006, BJP President Rajnath Singh shifted Arun Jaitley's charge from Tamil Nadu to West Bengal. Traditionally, West Bengal is a Left stronghold. The Left swept the 2006 assembly elections leaving no seat for the BJP.
""Punjab"" In February 2007, Arun managed the BJP's campagaign in Punjab and coordinated a strategy between the party and its ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal. Out of the 23 seats the party contested, it won 19, a a figure that surpassed all expectations and is the party's best-ever performance in the state.
Rajya Sabha Member's Web Site: Arun Jaitley BJP finds its winning mojo: alliances and incumbency India Today Interview: Arun Jaitley
