Arun Jaitley responding to treatment, condition stable: Doctors

New Delhi, Aug 10: Senior BJP leader and former finance minister Arun Jaitley's condition is stable as of now said doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Saturday.

According to reports, Jaitley is likely to be kept under observation for the next 2 to 3 days.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu visited AIIMS to know about Jaitley's health condition.

He was at the hospital for around 20 minutes, during which he had detailed discussions with the doctors attending to Jaitley.

"The doctors informed the Vice President that Arun Jaitley is responding to the treatment and his condition is stable," a statement from Vice President Secretariat said.

As soon as the news about Jaitley's health broke, leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla rushed to AIIMS to meet their senior party colleague.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, BJP working president J P Nadda, BJP leaders Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Sudhanshu Trivedi also met the ailing former finance minister. Veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and yoga guru Ramdev too were at the AIIMS to enquire about Arun Jaitley's health.

Jaitley, 66, was admitted to the Cardio-Neuro-Centre of the hospital around 10 am on Friday.

In May this year, Jaitley was admitted to the AIIMS for treatment.

A lawyer by profession, he has been the most important leader in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet during his first tenure and often acted as the chief troubleshooter for the government.

Jaitley did not contest the Lok Sabha elections of 2019 presumably because of his ill health.

Jaitley had undergone renal transplant on May 14 last year with Goyal filling in for him at that time too. Jaitley, who had stopped attending office since early April 2018, was back in the finance ministry on August 23, 2018.

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