india

Updated: Aug 16, 2019 17:24 IST

President Ram Nath Kovind went to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Friday to enquire about the health conditions of former union minister Arun Jaitley who has been admitted since August 9.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and his junior minister Ashwini Choubey were present at the hospital during the President’s visit.

Kovind, according to officials, spent some time enquiring about Jaitley’s health at AIIMS. He spoke to the health ministers and also the doctors who briefed him about the former finance minister’s health condition.

A multidisciplinary team of doctors is supervising Jaitley’s treatment.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has not issued any bulletin on Jaitley’s health condition since August 9, when he was admitted after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness.

Last Saturday, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu visited him at the hospital. The doctors informed the Vice President that Arun Jaitley is responding to the treatment and his condition is stable.

Jaitley has a history of medical conditions, including diabetes and kidney failure. He also underwent a weight-loss (bariatric) surgery in September 2014. The former finance minister had undergone a kidney transplant in May last year when he had taken a sabbatical from his North Block office.

The finance ministry portfolio was then temporarily handled by Piyush Goyal for a little over three months. Goyal handled the ministry again earlier this year when the minister had to travel to the United States for medical checkups.

After the BJP won a clear majority in the national elections this year, Arun Jaitley, who blogged to articulate the ruling party’s stand on various issues in the run-up to the election, announced his decision to stay out of the government to give him “a reasonable time for myself, my treatment and my health”. He, however, continued to write articles on key issues.