Government of India has clarified that media reports circulating about Arun Jaitley’s health condition are false and baseless. After NDA won a landslide victory and BJP alone crossing the majority mark with 303 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, several media houses had reported that Arun Jaitley is unlikely to remain as Finance Minister in the next Modi government due to his health.
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Some media houses had gone ahead and reported that Jaitley will not be part of the cabinet altogether. Quoting people with knowledge of the matter, they had said that Arun Jaitley has become very weak as his health has deteriorated over the past few weeks. It was reported that he is likely to travel abroad for treatment, and hence he would not be inducted in the government.
Responding to these media reports, today the government said that these reports are false and baseless. The Principal Spokesperson of Government of India and the Principal Director General of Press Information Bureau also asked the media to avoid rumour mongering on the issue.
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Even before the government had officially denied the reports, several people had said that Jaitley is doing fine with his health.
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Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta met Jaitley today to present him a copy of his book, and he said that although Jaitley is recovering from the effects of heavy medication, he is in good form. He said that Jaitley only needs a little rest to regain his strength.
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India TV chairman Rajat Sharma also debunked reports about Jaitley’s health. He confirmed that he is recovering well and working behind the scenes. He also said that friends and family have convinced him to stay away from the public for the time being.
It may be noted that although Jaitley did not attend the cabinet meeting on 24th May, he had attended the Finance Ministry on that day and held a meeting with secretaries and other top officers of the ministry. The budget to be presented by the new government, and the promises made by the party in the manifesto to in considered in the budget, were discussed in the meeting.
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Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das also met Jaitley today, which indicates that he remains in the charge of the finance ministry.
The prime minister Narendra Modi and his council of ministers in the next NDA government will take oath on 30th May at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, when all these speculations about Arun Jaitley will finally end.