Arun Jaitley’s health condition is critical, put on life support: Report

Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who was admitted to Delhi’s AIIMS hospital on August 9, has been put on life support, reported The Hindu. The senior BJP leader’s health condition deteriorated on Friday. Jaitley has been put on ECMO (Extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation), which is also known as extracorporeal life support. This technique provides prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange or perfusion to sustain life.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited Jaitley at the hospital. Union Health Minister Harsha Vardhan and other senior officials from the ministry also visited him on Friday evening.

When Vice President Venkaiah Naidu visited Jaitley last week, he had said, “Former Union finance minister Arun Jaitley is stable and his condition is improving gradually.” Naidu added that he was told by doctors that Jaitley was “responding to the treatment and his condition is stable”.

Notably, Jaitely was also admitted to the same hospital in May this year for treatment. Prior to that, Jaitley had previously undergone a renal transplant when he was union finance minister. He had also undergone bariatric surgery because of a long-standing diabetic condition.

Talking about his qualification, Jaitley is a lawyer by profession. He had been an important part of Modi’s Cabinet in the BJP government’s first term. During his political career, he held the finance and defence portfolios.

Due to his ill health, Jaitely did not contest the recently concluded Lok Sabha Election, in which BJP registered massive victory. When BJP returned to power, Jaitely wrote to PM Narendra Modi saying he would like to stay away from “any responsibility” on account of his ill health.

Also Read: Arun Jaitley’s Condition Deteriorated; Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath Visit Him At AIIMS