ugc_banner

PM Narendra Modi visits Arun Jaitley; urges him to reconsider opting out of government

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: May 29, 2019, 10:44 PM IST
main img
File photo of Arun Jaitley. Photograph:(Reuters)

Story highlights

According to media reports, Modi is likely to ask Jaitley to rethink his decision and continue to remain in the government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived to meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at his residence today.

According to media reports, Modi asked Jaitley to rethink his decision and continue to remain in the government.

Modi also enquired about Jaitley's health and well being, reports added.

Specific details about the meeting was not known immediately but the visit was possibly to convey a message that Jaitley is valued, appreciated and wanted by him and his government.

Earlier today, Jaitley has written a letter to Modi saying he does not want to be a minister in his new government due to health reasons.

Jaitley has not attended office for the last three weeks and has rarely been seen in public. He, however, has been writing blogs and tweeted on Modi's victory last week. 

Watch: 'Allow me reasonable time for myself', says Arun Jaitley

He neither attended the Cabinet meeting called Friday that recommended dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha, nor the Saturday meeting of the BJP parliamentary party that elected Modi as its leader.

A lawyer by profession, Jaitley has been the most important leader in Modi’s Cabinet and has often acted as the chief troubleshooter for the government.

He had undergone surgery in the US on January 22 for a reported soft tissue cancer in his left leg, an illness that deprived him from presenting the Modi government's sixth and final budget of its current term. Railway and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal was the stand-in finance minister who presented the interim budget for 2019-20.