Sumitra Mahajan said Arun Jaitley never attacked the Opposition unnecessarily.

Remembering former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Sumitra Mahajan, the former Lok Sabha Speaker, said that this was an irreparable loss for the government and the BJP.

"We were all trying to accept this fact since a long time but our hearts were unable to accept it. We will miss his contribution as a leader and as a person,” Ms Mahajan said, adding that it is a big loss to the BJP.

She recalled that she used to call Mr Jaitley a “blue-eyed boy” and used to love the shawls he wore.

“I used to call him the blue-eyed boy of the BJP. He was a smart and intelligent man times I used to pull his leg by saying that so many girls must be his fan,” Ms Mahajan was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

“He wore beautiful shawls. I used to joke with him that I am going to steal his shawl one day,” she added.

Ms Mahajan said he never attacked the Opposition unnecessarily.

"As a Union minister he gave such satisfactory and pointed replies on the behalf of the government to the Opposition that it would leave no room to anyone to raise supplementary questions," said Ms Mahajan who was speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha from 2014 to 2019.

Praising Mr Jaitley's intellect, she said, "He had a jolly-good personality. He used to maintain a friendly relationship with everyone. He had expert knowledge of law and finance. We used to consult him regarding any matter related to law. He had years of experience and he used to do every work with perfection."



Ms Mahajan remembered that's she was nervous meeting him in the hospital.

"When Arun Jaitley fell ill, I went to meet him and I was so nervous thinking if I would ever be able to meet him again. But then he survived for a few more days and we saw a ray of hope that he might get well. I knew somewhere that hope was not true," she added.

Arun Jaitley died at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) earlier today. He was 66.

(With Inputs From ANI, PTI)