A peerless orator, gifted with political prowess and foresight he has helped garner BJP’s multiple victories in state Assembly election. Arun Jaitley is a core member of the Union Cabinet of India.
The lawyer has previously held the portfolios as Minister for Commerce and Industry and Law and Justice in the National Democratic Alliance government
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Early Life
Arun Jaitley was born on December 28 1952 in New Delhi.
An alumnus of St. Xavier’s School, New Delhi, Jaitley was the president of the Students Union of Delhi University  during his graduation at Shri Ram College of Commerce.
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Legal Career
Since 1977, Jaitley has been practicing law before the Supreme Court of India and several high courts and became a senior advocate in 1990.
He was appointed Additional Solicitor General by the V P Singh government in 1989 and did the paperwork for the investigations into the Bofors Scandal.
An author of several publications on legal and current affairs, he was a delegate on behalf of the Government of India to the UN General Assembly Session in June 1998 where the Declaration on Laws Relating to Drugs and Money Laundering was approved.
Jaitley has also appeared on behalf of giant multinational corporations such as PepsiCo against and Coca Cola.
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Political Career
During his student year, Jaitley had been member of BJP’s student wing, ABVP. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 1991.
After the Vajpayee Government came to power, he was appointed Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting on October 13 1999. Â He took over the additional charge of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs on July 23 2000 following the resignation of Ram Jethmalani.
To become the national spokesman and Secretary General of BJP, He demitted the office of the Minister for Shipping with effect from September 1 2001 and as Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs on July 1 2002.
He was chosen as the Leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha on 3 June 2009 by L K Advani. In his capacity as the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, he has been credited for his excellent oratory skills which are matched equally by his intense research into the topic.
On May 26 2014, Jaitley was selected by newly elected, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to be the Minister of Finance and Minister of Defence in his cabinet.
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Achievements
He represented the Birla family in their legal battle against R S Lodha on the question of ownership of Birla Corporation Limited, the property worth Rs 50 billion and above.
He successfully introduced the eighty-fourth amendment to the Constitution of India in 2002 freezing parliamentary seats until 2026.
He successfully introduced the ninety-first amendment to the Constitution of India in 2004 penalizing defections.