Showing great temperament at the crease

In the corridors of North Block, he is known as the Wall – the Rahul Dravid of BJP, who wields a straight bat, is unflappable and dogged at the crease.

Fresh after the Finance Minister’s GST success — which someone likened to hitting a century for his team — the cricketing metaphors to describe Arun Jaitley’s skills in achieving consensus on a difficult issue have been flowing in thick and fast.

On Sunday morning as the Finance Minister chatted with a select crowd of CEOs, diplomats, and bankers, at Breakfast with

BusinessLine co-hosted by ITC Maurya, he looked relaxed in a half-sleeve shirt and beige trousers. This was in contrast to the formal suits worn by the attending industry captains. Jaitley is known to be fond of watches, belts, and pens, and has a stylish collection of shawls, but on Sunday, he chose to flaunt his informal best.

The Finance Minister was in an expansive mood and took on questions from head honchos with good humour.

Several remarked at the clarity with which the FM spoke, covering topics as diverse as GST, infrastructure funding challenges to the development agenda to tax compliance and banking reforms to political funding seamlessly.

In his own words: he is a conservative investor who prefers to invest in government bonds. But, he showed no conservatism in his approach to political funding, giving out four different ideas by which to tackle the issue, including crowdsourcing online. Despite his dietary restrictions, the FM sportingly cut the cake to mark BusinessLine ’s 24th anniversary – a fitting dessert to a great breakfast spread, that was thoughtfully crafted with health and sustainability in mind.