Jaitley back from treatment, tweets 'delighted to be back home'

Jaitley was flown to US after being reportedly diagnosed with soft tissue cancer

arun-jaitley-tax-cuts [File] Union Minister Arun Jaitley | PTI

Union Minister Arun Jaitley has returned to India after his month-long treatment in the US. Informing the same, Jaitley took to the Twitter and said: "Delighted to be back home." 

The ailing minister had rushed to the US in a jiffy amid preparations for the interim budget 2019. The interim budget 2019 was eventually presented by his colleague and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal who was given the charge of the finance ministry in the absence of Jaitley.

Jaitley, however, has been active on social media tweeting and writing Facebook posts and had also met reporters through a video call from New York and fielded questions on the budget. He also gave interviews on the subject.

News agency PTI, in a recent report, had quoted sources saying Jaitley was recovering well and may also attend Parliament next week, depending on doctor's advice.

However, it still remains to be seen if he would be renamed the finance minister. 

Jaitley, 66, had last month flown to New York for the treatment after being reportedly diagnosed with soft tissue cancer which required surgery. This was his first overseas visit after he underwent renal transplant surgery on May 14, 2018, at AIIMS.

He had stopped attending office at the beginning of April last year due to his kidney ailment and was back in North Block—the seat of Finance Ministry—on August 23, 2018. Even then, Goyal had manned the Ministry for about 100 days.

Jaitley in September 2014 underwent bariatric surgery to treat weight gain that he suffered because of a long-standing diabetic condition. 

(With inputs from PTI)