Arun Jaitley instrumental in Dharwad getting IIT

Dharwad: Dharwad will remember Arun Jaitley fondly for two reasons. One he was instrumental in announcing the establishment of Indian Institute of Technology ( IIT ) in Karnataka for which Dharwad had staked claim decades ago.

As Union finance minister in the NDA government headed by Narendra Modi, Jaitley had announced the Union government’s plan to establish an IIT in Karnataka during his 2015 budget speech.

Though he had not spelt out the exact location for the IIT in Karnataka it was evident that it would be Dharwad as no other city in the state had staked claim till then.

It is another matter that other cities including Raichur started claiming stake after Jaitley’s announcement. Dharwad had staked the claim way back in 1990 when S R Bommai was the Union human resources minister. Thanks to Jaitley’s initiative in making budgetary allocation for the establishment of IIT, Dharwad finally succeeded in getting the premier institute in July 2016.

Jaitley was also responsible for setting up a hi-tech election office in Hubballi during the 2008 assembly elections. Captain Ganesh Karnik was in-charge of the office and Jaitley had inaugurated it.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, Jaitley was again in Dharwad and had an interaction with intellectuals on the lawns of Hotel Mandar. During the two-hour session he had answered questions on wide ranging topics. He had also participated in another interaction at D Veerendra Heggade Kalakshetra when he was the Union Finance Minister.

KCCI offers condolence

Former Union minister and BJP leader Arun Jaitley was a talented politician and a visionary leader and his demise is a loss to the state and country, said the office bearers of Karnatak Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In a condolence message, they said Jaitley had brought significant changes in the ministries which he held. “He played a vital role in rolling out GST when he was the finance minister,” they said.