Former Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley Passes Away
Arun Jaitley, finance minister in the previous government and a stalwart of BJP, passed away on Saturday at AIIMS hospital in New Delhi. He was 66 years old.
He was rushed to AllMS on August 9 after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness. He was kept under observation at the Cardio-Neuro-Centre in the hospital, however, his condition kept on deteriorating.
He had been on life support since this week and was being monitored by a team of doctors, said the hospital sources.
Jaitley, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), stepped down as finance minister in January due to ill health, just months before elections that returned Modi's Hindu nationalists to power.
"With the demise of Arun Jaitley Ji, I have lost a valued friend, whom I have had the honour of knowing for decades," PM Modi tweeted. "His insight on issues and nuanced understanding of matters had very few parallels."
