Paying tribute to a good orator among the Neta class is perhaps easy. One has to just recall his one liners and good statements. Late Arun Jaitley falls into category easily. Some of his remarks and one liners would certainly go down the memory lane as part of the legacy of politico-literacy. Born December 28, 1952, he breathed his last on August 24, 2019.
Some of his best debates were during Lokpal crisis, the Liberhan Commission report on Ayodhya and the GST Bill.
Earlier in 2002, he was one of few leaders who defended Narendra Modi strongly for the post-Godhra riots.
For long – Jiatley was the real ‘Delhi’ contact – the eyes and ears – of Narendra Modi.
## On March 27, 2019 during the height of election campaign, Jaitley displayed his oratory skill.
Criticising the Congress for allegedly trying to make a mountain out of a molehill in reference to
PM Narendra Modi making the announcement about the space mission, Jaitley had said:
“When the finger points to the moon, the idiot always points to the finger”.
Jaitley was also a well read blogger.
Of the several one would go down as a testimony of his understanding of the politics and powers
a Neta could draw from media and social media.
In 2014, he 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. He threatened to expose it and even reveal information which
intelligence agencies provide him against the media. It was an un-Shinde like statement.
He (Shinde) later gave an unconvincing denial that the words ‘political media’ should be read as social media.
But 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”.
##
Here area few samples of Jaitley’s ‘gift of the gab’.
When in December 2011, the UPA government failed to pass the Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha late mid-night
hours – Arun Jaitley had summed up the entire game saying: “Fleedom at midnight”.
“Enormity of protests is proportionate to anger and the enormity of anger is proportionate to the corruption”. –
Arun Jaitley on Manmohan Singh government’s handling of Corruption and demand for a Lokpal in August 2011.
Finding faults with the handling of the civil society activists and Anna Hazare chiefly, Jaitley had said,
“You led them up to a garden path, then suddenly dumped them. Now they do not trust you anymore.”
“Can we blame the people? …at the end of the day, public opinion is fierce and fair……They have a right to
protest and crusade, we must not curtail their right nor should we say like a child we will not talk
to you,” he remarked.
With regard to 2G scam, Jaitley said the Manmohan Singh government “can put a lid on us (opposition
parties) but not on public anger.”
On Liberhan Commission on Babri-Ram Temple dispute:
(In Rajya Sabha, Dec 9, 2009)
Jaitley had said:
# “If you say you want to build a temple at the sacred site, then you are not secular, but if you say that the
temple should not be built, you are secular”.
Rejecting the commission report, Jaitley wondered why it took 17 years to write it,
“Was it being used to perpetuate self-employment?” he said in reference to the Commission chairman.
## “The report is devoid of any credibility. It is an unimplementable document and a fraud on fact finding process.
It is a national joke”.
# “It was not a fact finding mission but a commission which commented on ideology,” said Jaitley, who was then
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
Jaitley said the commission was to give its findings on evidence to that core question on who
demolished the mosque and whether it was done under planning.
“The judge ignored the entire evidence and then came to a finding.”
“No demolisher was identified. Police said no, Muslim organizations said no, political parties said no, but the judge
says that it could not have happened without conspiracy as your ideology promotes this.
Whether he (Liberhan) was a truth investigator or a political pundit”. .
“The (Liberhan) report is a tragedy of errors,” he has said.
He also pointed out that while Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, Jwas not considered for elevation
to the Supreme Court; but in his report the Commission passed strictures against the highest court.
Late Jaitley was darling of media – especially the BJP beat correspondents for years. He was called ‘Bureau Chief’ as he knew a galaxy of journalists by their first name. He also knew how to mock journalists and many also said – his wit was often not grasped well by capital’s journalists.
Once to a crowded group of scribes in his office, Late Jaitley had said – “Well then, many journalists are
standing and most of the others are outstanding”.
He was called ‘Bureau Chief’ and some of his ‘friends’ often joked that Jaitley could have been a good newspaper editor too.
