Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at his home in New Delhi on Wednesday, hours after he requested to be left out of the new Cabinet because of his ill health.

The visit came amid speculation that Modi will ask Jaitley to reconsider his decision, ANI reported. But some other reports claimed the visit was a courtesy call and that the leaders may discuss the new Cabinet members who will be inducted on Thursday. Modi and his new team for his second term in office will be sworn in on Thursday evening.

In a letter to Modi, Jaitley had said that he had faced “some serious health challenges” in the last 18 months. Jaitley said the letter was a formal request to the prime minister to relieve him of any responsibility. Calling his role in the government – as finance and earlier, as defence minister – during Modi’s first term “a great honour and a learning experience”, Jaitley added that he will be available to undertake any work informally to support the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The BJP won a landslide victory in the Lok Sabha polls, securing 303 seats out of 542. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won 352 seats.

Last week, there were media reports about Jaitley’s poor health and rumours about him flying abroad for treatment. However, on May 27, the government called the rumours baseless, IANS reported. “Reports in a section of the media regarding Union Minister Arun Jaitley’s health condition are false and baseless,” the government’s spokesperson, Sitanshu Kar, had said. “Media is advised to stay clear of rumour mongering.”

PM