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Updated: Jun 21, 2020 04:50 IST

Former Union minister and BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley began his final journey from the BJP headquarters in New Delhi to Nigam Bodh ghat on Sunday afternoon. Jaitley will cremated be around 2.30 pm.

The body of former Union finance minister was kept at the BJP headquarters on Sunday morning for the public to pay their last respects. Home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh and BJP working president JP Nadda among those who paid their tributes to one of the tallest leaders of the country.

Earlier in the morning, senior Congress leader Motilal Vohra, NCP leaders Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel, RLD leader Ajit Singh and former Andhra Pradesh CM and TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu arrived at Jaitley’s residence to pay their last respects.

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Jaitley died of organ failure at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi on Saturday at the age of 66. He was undergoing treatment at the hospital, where he was admitted on August 9.

His condition had been critical, and he was being treated by a multi-disciplinary team of specialists from the departments of cardiology, endocrinology, pulmonology and nephrology, among others. Jaitley’s condition kept deteriorating and he was put on a life-support system.

The charismatic leader had a history of medical conditions, including diabetes and kidney failure. He underwent a kidney transplant last year and a bariatric surgery in 2014.

His illness forced him to opt out of the government when the second National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in on May 30.

Urbane and suave, Jaitley wore many hats and was the BJP’s main trouble troubleshooter. The senior Supreme Court lawyer was a key strategist of the BJP and held several important portfolios including finance, defence, commerce and industry, corporate affairs, and law and justice in the governments of prime minister Narendra Modi and the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Jaitley is survived by his wife Sangeeta Jaitley, daughter Sonali Jaitley Bakhshi and son Rohan Jaitley.