President Kovind Said To Visit AIIMS To Enquire About Arun Jaitley’s Health

President Ram Nath Kovind met with Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences in Delhi to inquire about his health, said sources on Friday. Jaitley was admitted to the intensive care unit of AIIMS on Aug. 9 and is said to be “critical”.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey were also present during president's visit to the hospital.

According to sources, 66-year-old Jaitley is in a critical condition and a multidisciplinary team of doctors is supervising his treatment.

AIIMS has not issued any bulletin on Jaitley's health condition since Aug. 9, when he was admitted after complaints of breathlessness and restlessness.

On Saturday, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visited AIIMS to enquire about Jaitley's health, his office had said that the former minister is responding to treatment.

In May this year, Jaitley was admitted to AIIMS for treatment.

Jaitley, a lawyer by profession, had been an important part in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet in in the Bharatiya Janata Party government's first term. He held the finance and defence portfolios, and often acted as the chief troubleshooter of the government.

Jaitley did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election presumably because of his ill-health.

He had undergone a renal transplant on May 14 last year at AIIMS with Railways Minister Piyush Goyal filling in for him in the finance ministry at that time.

Jaitley, who had stopped attending office since early April last year, was back in the finance ministry on Aug. 23, 2018.

In September 2014, he underwent bariatric surgery to correct the weight he had gained because of a long-standing diabetic condition.