Jyotiraditya Scindia, Fadnavis Visit AIIMS as Former FM Arun Jaitley Continues to be on Life Support

New Delhi: As former finance minister Arun Jaitley continued to be on life support at AIIMS here, several leaders, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran LK Advani, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, UP Governor Anandiben Patel and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, visited the hospital on Monday to enquire about his health.

Later in the evening, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union ministers Jitendra Singh, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Thaawarchand Gehlot, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Santosh Gangwar, Delhi LG Anil Baijal, BJP national general-secretary Arun Singh, party MP Maneka Gandhi and Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia also visited the hospital to know about his wellbeing. The Additional Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, PK Mishra, and Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha also visited the hospital in the evening.

Jaitley, 66, was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on August 9 after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness. According to sources, he is on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) support. A multidisciplinary team of doctors is consistently monitoring his condition. AIIMS has not issued any bulletin on Jaitley's health condition since August 10.

Advani was accompanied by his daughter Pratibha Advani. Several prominent leaders, including Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Jitendra Singh and Ram Vilas Paswan, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Congress' Abhishek Singhvi and Scindia, BSP supremo Mayawati and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat have visited the hospital in recent days to enquire about the former defence and finance minister's health and meet his family members.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had said on Friday,"Doctors at AIIMS are doing the best they can." President Ram Nath Kovind, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had visited AIIMS on Friday to check on the leader's health.

Jaitley, a lawyer by profession, had been a key member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet in the BJP government's first term. He held the finance and defence portfolios, and often acted as the chief troubleshooter of the government. He did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election presumably because of his ill-health.

In May this year, Jaitley was admitted to AIIMS for treatment. He had undergone a renal transplant on May 14 last year at AIIMS with Railways Minister Piyush Goyal filling in for him in the finance ministry at that time.

Jaitley, who had stopped attending office since early April last year, was back in the finance ministry on August 23, 2018. In September 2014, he underwent bariatric surgery to correct the weight he had gained because of a long-standing diabetic condition.

(With inputs from PTI)