File Picture : Deccan Chronicle
The death of former three time Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has sent the nation in mourning. One of the young ministers during the Vajpayee government was Arun Jaitley.
In 1999, after the Vajpayee Government of the BJP led National Democratic Alliance came to power, he was appointed Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge) on 13 October 1999.
He was also appointed Minister of State for Disinvestment (Independent Charge), a new ministry created for the first time to give effect to the policy of disinvestments under the World Trade Organisation regime.
He took over the additional charge of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs on 23 July 2000 following the resignation of Ram Jethmalani as the Union Cabinet Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs.
He was elevated to a Cabinet Minister in November 2000 and was made simultaneously the Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs and Shipping. He was the first Minister of Shipping following the bifurcation of the Ministry of Surface Transport. He demitted the office of the Minister for Shipping with effect from 1 September 2001 and as Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs on 1 July 2002 to join as a General Secretary of the BJP and its national spokesman
In an emotional farewell, Union minister Arun Jaitley recalled his association with his mentor, calling Vajpayee’s demise not the end but the continuation of an era for which he laid the foundation. Jaitley posted his rich tributes Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his facebook post
