Jaitley's demise huge loss to democracy, political, legal and cricket fraternity: Rajeev Shukla

Senior Congress leader Rajeev Shukla and chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday termed Jaitley's demise 'a great loss to democracy, political fulcrum and legal and cricket fraternity'.

Speaking to , Shukla said, "In passing away of Jaitley, the country has lost a valuable leader."

"It is a great loss to the democracy, to political fulcrum, legal and cricket fraternity. He had on his tips the name of even junior players of the state. You will never get such a competent person," he said.

Recalling Jaitley as 'a man who mastered the art of making friends', the Congress leader said: "He has the capability to reach out to opposition leaders very easily. He kept friendly relations with everyone. So, he was the mentor and conscious keeper of this government. The country has lost a great son and this void can never be fulfilled."

He also stressed that Indian cricket players, who will play a first Test match against West Indies in Antigua, will wear black armbands to pay tribute to Jaitley as "his contribution was immense to the Indian cricket".

Senior advocate Jaitley had also served as the president of Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president in the past.

In 2016, when Delhi's AAP government made several allegations of financial impropriety against Jaitley with regards to his tenure as head of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), then Rajya Sabha MP Shukla came out in his support.

Shukla had reportedly rejected Kejriwal's accusations and dubbed them as mere allegations. Siding with Jaitley he had asserted that AAP had no evidence to back their claim.

Similarly, both BCCI and DDCA backed Jaitley and denied allegations levelled against him by the AAP.

Echoing similar sentiments, BCCI acting president CK Khanna said that Jaitley was the saviour of BCCI and nobody represented India as he did.

The former finance minister passed away at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Saturday afternoon. He was 66.

Jaitley, first became a Cabinet minister in the government of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000. He then also went on to serve as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha from June 2009.

He was appointed the finance minister in the first term of Modi government in 2014. He opted out of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections citing health reasons.

( With inputs from ANI )