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Updated: Jun 21, 2020 00:04 IST

In his passing, the condolence messages and tweets that flooded social media timelines bore witness to former finance minister Arun Jaitley’s popularity, which transcended party liaisons. Leaders across the political spectrum took to Twitter to post messages about their personal equation with the late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician.

One of the first to condole his passing was Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, who expressed “deep pain and distress”. “Shri Jaitley had a long innings as a public figure, Parliamentarian and Minister and his contributions to public life will forever be remembered,” he said.

Her son, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi sent out a tweet: “I am sorry to hear about Mr Arun Jaitley’s passing. My condolences to his family and friends. May he rest in peace.”

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Senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia called Jaitley’s passing a huge loss to the nation and said he had lost a family member. “He was a brilliant lawyer and parliamentarian, whom I personally admired and from whom I have derived immense learning,” read Scindia’s tweet.

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his Delhi and West Bengal counterparts Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee also expressed their condolences. “My thoughts are with his family in this time of grief. May his soul rest in peace,” Singh tweeted. Banerjee said Jaitley’s passing came after a “battle bravely borne”. “An outstanding Parliamentarian & a brilliant lawyer, appreciated across parties. His contribution to Indian polity will be remembered,” tweeted Banerjee.

Kejriwal described Jaitley as a legal luminary and an experienced political leader who will be missed.

Former Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu said that he was “devastated” by the news. “Truly cherish the many years of friendship shared with a humble leader who was also a great statesman,” tweeted Naidu.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said Jaitley was “every non-BJP person’s favorite BJP-ite”. “I once referred to him as Bedi+Pras+Chandra+Venkat for his extraordinary spinning abilities and he enjoyed it hugely,” tweeted Ramesh, recalling his comparison of Jaitley to four of India’s greatest spin bowlers.