Arun Jaitley continues to be on life support; Advani, Naqvi, among others visit AIIMS

New Delhi: As former finance minister Arun Jaitley continues to be on life support, politicians, including veteran BJP leader L K Advani and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat visited AIIMS here on Monday to enquire about his health.

Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and BJP national general-secretary Arun Singh also visited the hospital to know about his wellbeing. Jaitley, 66, was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on August 9 after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness. AIIMS has not issued any bulletin on Jaitley's health condition since August 10.

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. Advani was accompanied by his daughter Pratibha Advani. Several prominent leaders, including Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Jitendra Singh, Ram Vilas Paswan, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Congress' Abhishek Singhvi and Jyotiraditya Scindia, BSP chief Mayawati and RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat have visited the hospital in the recent



days to enquire about Jaitley'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. In May this year, Jaitley was admitted to AIIMS for treatment.

Jaitley, a lawyer by profession, had been an important part in 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. Jaitley did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election presumably because of his ill-health.

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.