Kejriwal's response came hours after Jaitley, the BJP floor leader in Rajya Sabha, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he should be kept out of the new Cabinet on health grounds
Arvind Kejriwal
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday wished Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley a speedy recovery and healthy life.
Kejriwal's response came hours after Jaitley, the BJP floor leader in Rajya Sabha, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he should be kept out of the new Cabinet on health grounds.
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''Wish @arunjaitley ji speedy recovery and a healthy life. I have known him since many years and despite political differences, I have always found him to be affectionate and warm," the chief minister tweeted.
Wish @arunjaitley ji speedy recovery and a healthy life. I have known him since many years and despite political differences, I have always found him to be affectionate and warm.
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 29, 2019
In his letter, Jaitley, who is close to the Prime Minister, said, "I am writing to you to formally request you that I should be allowed a reasonable time for myself, my treatment and my health and, therefore, not be a part of any responsibility, for the present, in the new government."
The 66-year-old BJP leader, who was absent from Friday's Cabinet meeting, said he would "undertake any work informally to support the government or the party".
Jaitley, owing to his health, was not seen at the victory celebrations at the BJP headquarters after the party stormed to power with a massive victory on 303 seats.
Modi along with his cabinet will be sworn in at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday evening.
Earlier today, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal blamed the political "atmosphere" and the perceived Modi-Rahul fight for his own party's poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi. In an open letter to party volunteers, he, however, claimed that even those who did not vote for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had pledged to vote for it in the Assembly elections because of the various work it has done.
"During the Lok Sabha elections, our volunteers ran a superb campaign putting all their energies into it," Kejriwal said in the letter. He added that AAP's candidates were among the best.
"The results, however, didn't meet our expectations. Post-election ground analysis has revealed two major reasons.
"First, the atmosphere that prevailed in the country rubbed off on Delhi as well. Second, people saw this 'big election' as between (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (Congress President) Rahul (Gandhi) and voted accordingly," he said.
Whatever the reason, he added, the AAP was not able to explain to the public why they should vote for AAP in the Lok Sabha battle.
Listing the achievements and initiatives of the AAP government in Delhi, he said people had assured them that in the "small election" for Delhi Assembly, "they will vote in the name of the incredible work we have done in Delhi".
The BJP swept all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi while the AAP finished second in two seats and third in the rest. However, it won one seat in Punjab. In 2014, it won four seats in Punjab and finished at the second spot in all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
(With inputs from ANI)
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