Arun Jaitley Birth Anniversary: The Finance Minister who steered landmark economic reforms

December 28 marks the birth anniversary of Arun Jaitley -- an Indian politician and attorney who served as the country's Finance Minister for five years under the BJP-led NDA government. During his tenure, Jaitley oversaw the induction of Goods and Services Tax, merger of Railway budget with general budget, and implementation of demonetisation. On the occasion of his 68th birth anniversary, let's have a look at his political journey spanning nearly five decades.

Jaitley entered student politics in the early 1970s and rose to become the president of the Delhi University Students Union as an ABVP candidate in 1974, just a year before the implementation of the Emergency by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He played an active role in an anti-corruption movement launched by Jai Prakash Narayan in the 1973, and was subsequently jailed for 19 months during the emergency era. Jaitley was appointed as the All India secretary of the ABVP in 1977 and three years later was made the president of the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

From 1987, Jaitley started practising law in the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts. Two years later, when Congress lost power at the Centre, he was appointed Additional Solicitor General by the VP Singh government. As country's youngest Additional Solicitor General (aged 37), he built a strong legal case against Rajiv Gandhi on Bofors scandal. Over the next decade, he deployed his legal brilliance in defending the fellow party men such as LK Advani and Narendra Modi during their legal troubles.

Jaitley briefly became BJP's spokesperson in 2003 before going back to his legal career again following the party's unexpected defeat in the 2004 general elections. In 2009, he was chosen as the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha. When the BJP returned to power at the Centre in 2014, Jaitley was elected as the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Corporate Affairs, and the Minister of Defence. During his tenure as the Finance Minister, Jaitley oversaw the induction of Goods and Services Tax, merger of Railway budget with general budget, and demonetisation.