Accordingly Finance Minister arun jaitley has formally requested Prime Minister Narendra modi not to assign him any role in the new Cabinet. Jaitley, in a letter to the Prime Minister, has said he needs a "reasonable time" for his treatment and health. When congratulating Prime Minister Narendra modi for a spectacular victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Jaitley said he has faced some serious health challenges in the past 18 months.
He wrote "My doctors have enabled me to emerge out of most of them and after the campaign had concluded and you were leaving for Kedarnath, I had orally informed you that even though I was able to discharge the responsibilities assigned to me during the campaign, I would in future, for some time, like to keep away from any responsibility”.
Previously a report published in Reuters quoting unknown sources said that Jaitley, 66, might not take up the offer to continue as the Finance Minister due to his health, which has deteriorated in the past couple of months. Moreover a day after modi's big win, Jaitley had met five secretaries of the finance ministry, including Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, at his residence. Meanwhile Jaitley did not campaign like modi and other top leaders of the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections, he was actively involved in writing blogs and posts on his social media handles.
