New Delhi, Aug. 24 -- A lawyer-turned-politician will be as staid an introduction for Arun Jaitley as a cricketer-turned-commentator for Sunil Gavaskar.

A brilliant strategist and one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's most trusted colleagues, Jaitley was far more than an accomplished lawyer and many notches above his contemporaries in politics. The overcrowded grand stage of Delhi's intoxicating power elite has paused. It has lost one of its main protagonists, who passed away at AIIMS after prolonged illness on Saturday.

Armed with a razor sharp legal mind and ace political acumen, Jaitley slayed his opponents with intellectual finesse, yet maintained a dignity and class that earned him accolades from even those at the receiving end of ...