The nation mourns the demise of former Finance Minister and senior BJP lawmaker Arun Jaitley who passed away at the age of 66 at Delhi's AIIMS hospital on Saturday, August 24, after a prolonged illness. The veteran political leader who was admitted to AIIMS on August 9, took his last breath at 12:07 pm, the hospital announced in a statement recently. Political leaders and celebrities from several domains paid tribute to Arun Jaitley. Many of them took to social media to extend condolences.

READ | PM Modi Pays Tribute To Arun Jaitley, Says He Was A 'political Giant'

Karan Johar grieves​​​​​​​ Arun Jaitley's demise

Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar also paid tribute to Arun Jaitley. He took to Twitter and ​​​​​​​grieved the demise of the veteran politician. In a recent post, Karan Johar said that "the nation mourns a strong and assured leader" and extended thoughts and prayers to his family and loved ones.

Here's the post:

READ | Read Manmohan Singh's Condolence Letter To Arun Jaitley's Family

Madhur Bhandarkar pays tribute to Arun Jaitley

Meanwhile, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar also paid homage to the former Finance Minister. In a recent Twitter post, he mourned Arun Jaitley's demise and said that it is 'a great loss to the BJP and India'. Further hailing Arun Jaitley, he said that the BJP lawmaker 'was a charismatic leader' and extended heartfelt condolences to his family & friends.

Take a look:

READ | Arun Jaitley Passes Away: Lata Mangeshkar Pays Tribute To Former FM

Arun Jaitley's political journey

Arun Jaitley involved in politics since his time as a student. He was a member of the ABVP and served as the President of the Delhi University Students Union in 1974. Like a number of his contemporaries in the BJP, Arun Jaitley was put under preventive custody for fighting the Emergency as part of the JP movement, the clampdown on him lasting 19 months. Later, he rose to become the president of the Delhi ABVP and its All India Secretary.

READ | Former Union Minister Arun Jaitley Passes Away At AIIMS In New Delhi

Arun Jaitley is best known for having served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs in the first Narendra Modi government has also held portfolios of Defence and Information and Broadcasting. It was Arun Jaitley who rolled out the GST in 2017 which saw India becoming a unified market for goods and services for the first time, and was also the first chairman of the GST council, is widely credited for forging consensus leading to the Constitutional amendment that eventually passed the GST Bill.