Union minister Piyush Goyal will handle the finance and corporate affairs ministries while the incumbent minister, Arun Jaitley, recovers from an ailment, PTI reported. Goyal already holds the charge of the Ministry of Railways.
Jaitley, meanwhile, will be a minister without portfolio, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
Goyal is now expected to present the last budget of his government’s five-year tenure. The budget, likely to be presented on February 1, will be an interim one as elections are due later this year.
Jaitley has been undergoing treatment in the United States for the last few days. The Bharatiya Janata Party of the Union government have not officially revealed the nature of Jaitley’s ailment. Unidentified officials told PTI that Jaitley had undergone surgery in New York on Tuesday and has been advised rest for two weeks.
Goyal had held the charge of his two ministries for three months last year too when he was away for a kidney transplant. Jaitley had resumed charge in August 2018.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had earlier wished Jaitley a speedy recovery. “I am upset to hear Arun Jaitley Ji is not well,” Gandhi had tweeted last week. “We fight him on a daily basis for his ideas. However, I and the Congress party send him our love and best wishes for a speedy recovery. We are with you and your family 100% during this difficult period Mr Jaitley.”
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