Arun Jaitley likely to resume finance minister duties later this month

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley will return to office later this month and take over his position as finance minister after a three-month hiatus where he was recuperating following a kidney transplant.

According to a report by Bloomberg, sources close to Jaitley have confirmed the same.

Jaitley, who was named finance minister by prime minister Narendra Modi in 2014, underwent a kidney transplant in May this year. Jaitley’s first-floor corner office in North Block is being renovated and sanitized so that the minister is protected against infection, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Jaitley’s three-month quarantine period, prescribed by doctors, will end by mid-August, they said.

Jaitley has been active on social media for the last few weeks, from taking on opposition parties to writing on issues including cuts to the goods and services tax rates.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has held the charge in Jaitley’s absence, even as the latter held video conferences with officials and addressed events remotely, prompting the opposition to ask who India’s finance minister was.