Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley passes away at AIIMS

After prolonged illness, former Union Minister Arun Jaitley passed away in Delhi AIIMS on Saturday.

Jaitley, 66, was rushed to All India Institute of Medical Sciences on August 9 after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness.

Several prominent leaders, including Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Jitendra Singh and Ram Vilas Paswan, President Ram Nath Kovind, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Congress's Abhishek Singhvi and Jyotiraditya Scindia and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat have visited the hospital in recent days to enquire about Jaitley's health and meet his family members.

Jaitley, a lawyer by profession, had been a key member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet in the BJP 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. In May this year, Jaitley was admitted to AIIMS for treatment.

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 August 23, 2018.

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