IN PICTURES | RIP Arun Jaitley - Journey Of PM Modi's Precious Diamond And BJP's Man For All Season

A keen political mind who was always observant of the shifting strands of politics, Jaitley was an early supporter of Modi within the party. He deployed his political acumen and legal might to help Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister, and his confidant Amit Shah, now Union home minister, to come out clean from 2002 riots allegations and fake encounter charges respectively. (File Photo/ AFP)

A gifted raconteur whose interest spanned from politics to Bollywood to sports, his informal gatherings were always a full house as journalists, friends and politicians enjoyed his wit, sarcasm -- which singed his colleagues and adversaries alike -- and grasp of issues that he delivered in his ever relaxed and warm demeanour. (File Photo/ AFP)

The former Delhi University Students Union president was a rare politician who could be as much at home in a parliamentary debate, holding a full House in thrall with his exposition on issues as varied as the Rafale fighter aircraft deal row and the triple talaq bill, as in a press conference where he, unlike most politicians, relied on reason and not rhetoric to articulate his party's position. (File Photo/ AFP)

A member of the BJP core team for many years, the senior lawyer was probably the only party bigwig who not only made a smooth transition but also grew in stature as L K Advani was eased out to make way for Modi as its prime ministerial candidate in 2013. (File Photo/ AFP)

Unsurprisingly, when Modi led his party to its maiden majority in Lok Sabha in 2014 and he rewarded him with the coveted finance portfolio. Jaitley himself had lost the Lok Sabha election but it had little impact on his fortunes as Modi trusted him with key ministries, from defence to information and broadcasting, whenever the need arose. (File Photo/ AFP)

A quintessential moderate who was never associated with the hard edges of Hindutva politics, Jaitley became a trusted friend of Modi -- feted by the party's rank and file for his unabashed support to the hardcore saffron agenda -- as he smoothed the path for the Gujarat leader's rise in the BJP. (File Photo/ AFP)

For the BJP, Arun Jaitley was a man for all seasons -- a strategist who crafted its rise in many states, a suave and moderate face who won the saffron party new allies and an articulate champion of its cause whose persuasive skills were a valuable asset for its leadership. (File Photo/ AFP)

His skills were on full display in the first Narendra Modi government when he framed its and the BJP's response to the opposition's charges of corruption, especially in Rafale deal, and crony capitalism and led the counter-assault against the Congress-led UPA with his regular social media posts during the recent general election despite. (File Photo/ AFP)