Arun Jaitley to take charge as Finance Minister today

New Delhi, Feb 15: Union Minister, Arun Jaitley, who returned from the United States after undergoing treatment will take charge as the finance minister.

Sources tell OneIndia that Jaitley will take charge from Piyush Goyal who held the portfolio, when he was away in the US. He will also attend the cabinet committee on security meeting today, which was called after the Pulwama attack.

Jaitley missed presenting the sixth and final Budget of the Narendra Modi government before the general elections. In his absence, the charge of the finance ministry was given to railways minister Piyush Goyal.

Jaitley, however, has been active on social media, tweeting and writing Facebook posts. he had also met reporters through a video call from New York and fielded questions on the Budget. He also gave interviews on the subject.

In an interview to PTI in New York after the Budget presentation, Jaitley said he was on recovery course and his return to India in time to reply to the Budget debate in Parliament will depend on when his doctors allow him to leave.

"It depends on my treatment here, which is all over. I am on the recovery course. It's when my doctors allow me to go back. As of present, as I understand, Piyush Goyal will be replying (to the Budget debate in Parliament)," he said.

The Budget session of Parliament ends on February 13, and debate on the Interim Budget has been taken up in the Lok Sabha.

Jaitley, 66, had flown to New York last month for the treatment, after being reportedly diagnosed with soft tissue cancer, which required surgery.

This was his first overseas visit after he underwent renal transplant surgery on May 14, 2018, at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

He had stopped attending office at the beginning of April last year due to his kidney ailment and was back in North Block on August 23, 2018. Even then, Goyal had manned the ministry for about 100 days.

In September 2014, Jaitley underwent bariatric surgery to treat weight gain that he suffered because of a long-standing diabetic condition.