Arun Jaitley under medical observation; kidney transplant operation likely today

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to undergo kidney transplant operation at All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi on Sunday. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader has reportedly been under medical observation at the country’s premier medical institute since Saturday.

The Union minister also underwent some medical tests following his admission to the hospital. Notably, a kidney transplant patient being kept under observation for a day is, according to doctors, a routine medical procedure.

On Thursday, the Finance Minister had confirmed about his ailment with a post on microblogging site Twitter. “I am being treated for kidney related problems & certain infections that I have contracted. I am therefore currently working from controlled environment at home. The future course of my treatment would be determined by the doctors treating me,” he had tweeted.

The team of doctors which would conduct the kidney transplant operation is headed by Dr VK Bansal and comprises Dr Nikhil Tandon and Dr Gautam Sharma. He is likely to be operated by nephrologist Dr Sandeep Guleria from Apollo hospital, also brother of AIIMS director Randeep Guleria, who is a family friend of Jaitley.

He has not been attending office since Monday and even skipped taking oath after being re-elected as Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh. Fifty-three out of 58 newly-elected or re-elected members took oath of office during the last two days. Jaitley was one of the five members who have not taken oath.

News agency PTI had reported that Jaitley's present condition might be a fallout of the bariatric surgery he had undergone soon after the BJP government came to power at the Centre in 2014. He underwent the surgery to treat weight gain that he suffered because of a long-standing diabetic condition. That surgery was first performed at Max Hospital, but he then had to be shifted to AIIMS because of complications.