Veteran BJP leader and former finance minister of India Arun Jaitley critical

NEW DELHI, Aug 16: Former Finance minister and veteran leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Arun Jaitley is critical according to sources and is undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in South Delhi.

Jaitley started his career as an advocate and represented various major corporations in court cases before joining the Supreme Court. He quit practicing law after he was selected to represent as the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha the upper house of the Indian Parliament.

He is keen on academics and has contributed to journals, and has written a plethora of articles and authored books on legal and current affairs. He was instrumental in approving the Declaration of Laws Relating to Drugs and Money Laundering in the United Nations while representing the Government of India.

He has served as minister in various capacities under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first cabinet as finance and defense minister.

Arun Jaitley suffers from acute renal failure, and he had undergone a transplant for the same last year in AIIMS. His health kept him out of the office for quite some time. It was his health that refrained him from active politics in the second BJP government, while he did not wish to contest owing to his deteriorating health condition.

Many senior leaders have gone to pay a visit and inquire about the status of his health. Sources have said that he has been responding to medications administered but he remains critical. He was admitted to AIIMS on August 9 due to breathing difficulties.

The President of India Ram Nath Kovind visited AIIMS and paid Jaitley a visit. Jaitley is 66 and has two children both are lawyers. There is a team of doctors who are looking after him.