Union Budget: Nirmala Sitharaman pays homage to Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday paid homage to Arun Jaitley while presenting her second Union Budget 2020 in the Lok Sabha. Former finance minister Jaitley died last year at the age of 66.
A lawyer by profession, Jaitley was the most important leader in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet during his first tenure and acted as the chief troubleshooter for the government, especially during the crucial times of demonetisation and GST (goods and services tax) rollout.
He became the finance minister in 2014 when BJP-led by Narendra Modi swept to power. He also briefly held charge of the defence and information & broadcasting ministries.
He was the key force behind a number of government initiatives such as the establishment of the monetary policy committee, liberalisation of the foreign direct investment framework and abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
As FM, Jaitley steered some of the most far-reaching reforms such as the goods and services tax (GST) and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. His patient negotiations with states were said to have been key in securing their agreement to ensure the rollout of GST in July 2017.