Arun Jaitley writes to PM Modi, steps away due to health issues

NEW DELHI: On Thursday, a letter had been written by the former finance minister Arun Jaitley to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he had said that, he will "not be part of any responsibility, for the present, in the new government" due to his ill health. He had also tweeted a copy of his letter to PM Modi.

"I am writing to you to formally request you that I should be allowed a reasonable time for myself, my treatment and my health and therefore, not be a part of any responsibility, for the present, in the new government," Mr Jaitley wrote.

Mr Jaitley, who is 66-years-old, had said, for the last 18 months he has been facing "some serious health challenges."

After the national election campaign, "orally informed you that even though I was able to discharge the responsibilities assigned to me during the campaign, I would in future, for some time, like to keep away from any responsibility. This will enable me to concentrate on my treatment and health."

The senior BJP leader signed off by saying he would "obviously" have a lot of time to take up any work "informally" to support the government or the party.

For the past few days, among the rumours regarding his health, Mr Jaitley had appeared in several photos of his meetings with officials and others.

Mr Jaitley, a lawyer-turned politician, has always been among the chief troubleshooters of BJP.

The kidney transplant in the month of May, last year has made things worse for Mr Jaitley. As he is a diabetic, he also had to skip the interim budget in the month of February when he was admitted at a hospital in the US for treatment.