Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley passes away

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NATIONAL | August 24, 2019:

Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley passed away at Delhi's AIIMS hospital, days after he was admitted following complaints of breathlessness. He was 66.

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The veteran BJP leader, who was brought in to the hospital on August 9, had been put on life support and was being monitored by a multidisciplinary team of doctors, news agency PTI had reported quoting sources.

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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.

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He had undergone a kidney 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 had stopped attending office since early April last year, was back in the finance ministry on August 23, 2018.