Former finance minister Arun Jaitley remains critical; several politicos visit AIIMS

New Delhi: Several senior BJP leaders visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Saturday as former finance minister Arun Jaitley continued to remain in a critical condition and is currently on life support at AIIMS. 

The leaders included Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, BJP MP Rajyavardhan Rathore, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Jitendra Singh, MP Mahesh Sharma, and Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan who visited the ailing BJP leader on Saturday. According to Zee News sources, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik is likely to visit the former finance minister as well.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati also visited the senior BJP leader at the hospital on Saturday at around 11:30 am. 

"Today I went to AIIMS to see former Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley to enquire about his health. There I met his family members and with them, I prayed to God for the speedy recovery of Jaitley Ji," she tweeted in Hindi.

_____ _________ _____ _ _____ ______ _ ______ __ ______ ____ ____ ____ _____ __ _________ __ ______ ____ __ __ ______ __ ____ _______ ___ ____ ____ ______ __ _____ ___ __ _____ ______ ______ ______ __ ___- ___ _____ __ _________ __ __ __ __ ____ _____ __ _____ _________ ___ ___ - Mayawati (@Mayawati) August 17, 2019

According to news agency ANI, Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, BJP leader Satish Upadhyay and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi also paid a visit to the former finance minister.

Harsh Vardhan had also accompanied Union Home Minister Amit Shah when the latter visited Jaitley at around 11 pm on Friday to enquire about his health. 

Earlier, President Ram Nath Kovind, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and Minister of State (MoS) for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey had visited him at the hospital here. 

The 66-year-old was admitted to the country's premier medical institution on August 9 morning and was put on ventilator late on the same night. Soon after he was admitted on August 9, PM Narendra Modi, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Jaitley at the hospital.

According to an earlier medical bulletin by AIIMS, the former minister is under the supervision of a team comprising multidisciplinary doctors, adding that "he is hemodynamically stable". The hospital has not issued any medical bulletin on Jaitley's health after August 9. His heart and lungs are not functioning normally, sources told Zee News. 

The former finance minister has held several important portfolios in Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi governments and has not been keeping well for some time. He did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election citing health reasons. In February, Piyush Goyal had to present the interim budget as Jaitley was in the US for treatment.

After NDA government retained power in the Lok Sabha elections, Jaitley wrote to PM Modi, saying he would not take up any responsibility/portfolio in the government due to his deteriorating health condition.