File Photo of Arun Jaitley. Source : The Press Information Bureau on Sunday clarified that news reports about Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's health were "false and baseless".
Shitanshu Kar, spokesperson, Government of India took to Twitter to issue a clarification.
"Reports in a section of media regarding Union Minister Shri Arun Jaitley's health condition are false and baseless. Media is advised to stay clear of rumour mongering, " Kar wrote.
According to the Economic Times , Jaitley was admitted to AIIMS last week to undergo tests and received treatment for an undisclosed illness. While he was discharged on Thursday, he did not attend the celebrations at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters following the party's sweeping victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
The clarification comes in light of news articles claiming Jaitley's health has deteriorated over the past few months. Wire agency Reuters published a story on May 24, titled,"Exclusive: Arun Jaitley unlikely to remain finance minister in Modi's new term - sources"
The story stated, "The sources said that Jaitley, 66, is unlikely to take up any offer to continue in the top job steering Asia’s third-largest economy as his health has deteriorated over the past few months."
Posts on Facebook and WhatsApp have gone a step ahead and falsely claimed that Jaitley had died.
The same text - "just heard arun jaitley no more" is being shared on Facebook. The posts claim that an "official announcement will be amde tomorrow.
Amid rising speculation on social media. Swapan Dasgupta, BJP Rajya Sabha MP also posted a photo on Twiter stating that he met Jaitley in the afternoon of May 26 to present a copy of his book.
According to reports, Jaitley has battled two serious illnesses in 2018 - a renal failure and a rare cancer of the connective tissue in his leg. A February 17, 2019 report in the Indian Express said, "This, despite the fact that he had two serious illnesses last year. He underwent a kidney transplant after a renal failure and, within a few months, was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare cancer of the connective tissue."