A lookback at Arun Jaitley's last 5 Facebook blogs: How BJP stalwart participated in political duels till his last days
Jaitley, who battled crippling ailments in his last days, was still up for a political fight as he brilliantly articulated the government’s position on various issues. We look back at some of the last blogs:
Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the face of the middle class in BJP and who was a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, died here on Saturday at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) following prolonged illness.
66-year-old Jaitley, who was Lawand Information Minister in the Vajpayee government and held the portfolios of Finance, Defence and Information and Broadcasting during the first term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leaves his wife Sangeeta, son and a daughter.His body was taken to his house in Greater Kailash area in South Delhi where it will be kept till tomorrow morning. It will be taken to the BJP headquarters tomorrow morning before funeral at the Nigambodh Ghat on the banks of Yamuna.
Jaitley, who battled crippling ailments in his last days, was still up for a political fight as he brilliantly articulated the government’s position on various issues. We look back at some of the last blogs:
The current session of Parliament has been the most productive where historical legislations have been passed. The Triple Talaq law, strengthening of India’s anti-terror laws and the decision on Article 370 are all unprecedented. The popular belief that the promise BJP made on Article 370 is an unachievable slogan has been proved wrong. So strong is the public mood in support of the new Kashmir policy of the Government that several opposition parties had succumbed to the public opinion. For the Rajya Sabha to approve this decision by a two-third majority goes beyond anyone’s imagination. I analyse the impact of this decision, history of failed attempts on resolving the J&K issue.
Both Houses of Parliament have approved the “Triple Talaq” Bill. The new law seeks to criminalise those who in defiance of law still resort to this practice and drive their wife to destitution.
I had an opportunity to listen to the debate in Both the Houses. Strong arguments were presented on both sides. There are some basic principles to be kept in mind while analysing this issue.
No social security for women in India
Those who champion the case of liberalising the marriage and divorce laws must realise two basic facts. India is a developing society. Even though weaker sections are being provided certain facilities by the Government, the concept of social security does not exist in India. The second important fact is that in a divorce proceeding, no person can take advantage of his own wrong.
The judgement of International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered on the 17thof July, 2019 has strongly supported and upheld India’s case on most issues. The Court held that the Vienna Convention binds both the countries which effectively provides for consular access. Consular access is an extension of the principles of natural justice and fair play. An accused held in custody or detention in a foreign country has to be immediately informed that he has a right to seek consular access. The country to which the accused belongs has to be immediately informed that their national is in custody and, upon request, consular access has to be mandatorily provided. Such access enables an accused in a foreign land to get legal representation so that the trial against the accused would appear to be a fair trial. The ICJ has rightly held that each one of these pre-requisites were violated by Pakistan and, therefore, a conviction based on violation of such basic human rights cannot be allowed to be executed.
The Budget for each year is essentially a statement of income and expenditure of the Government. However, with the expansion of the Indian economy, it has acquired the role of a policy document. The Budget presented by the Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, is a policy document for the medium term. It is a budget of a continuing government, which has to accelerate the direction of the past. It expands the roadmap on which the Prime Minister has built up India’s growth story from 2014-19. The striking part of this period was that for a five year average, India grew by 7.3%, it’s revenues grew exponentially and it brought macro stabilityback with both the Current Account Deficit and the Fiscal Deficit being on the glide path downwards. The present Budget maintains that path based on the premise that economies which are fiscally prudent, eventually get rewarded as against those who indulge in fiscal adventurism.
Today, the Goods and Services Tax regime enters its third year. The monumental restructuring of one of the world’s clumsiest indirect tax system was not an easy task. The challenges to implement the GST were compounded by some outlandish and exaggerated comments of the not so well-informed. It would, therefore, be only fair to look back the last two years and analyse the implementation and the impact/ consequences of the GST.
The pre-GST regime
In a federal structure, both Centre and States were entitled to impose indirect tax on goods. The States had multiple laws which entitled them to impose taxation at different points. There were twin challenges. Firstly, to get the States to agree because some of them felt they were losing their fiscal autonomy to tax and, secondly, to develop a consensus in the Parliament. The States were scared of the fear of the unknown. The critical point which enabled the Government to persuade the States was to cushion them with a 14% annual increase from the tax base of 2015-16 for a period of five years.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/arun-jaitley/two-years-after-gst/1045572615631286/