PM Modi meets Jaitley after he opts out of Cabinet citing poor health

No word on meeting's outcome; in letter to Modi, outgoing FM said he needed time to concentrate on his health

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Arun Jaitley at the latter’s residence on Wednesday evening, hours after the outgoing finance minister requested that he should not be given any responsibility for now and be allowed time off due to his ill health.

Though there was no official announcement on the outcome of the meeting, which lasted about 20 minutes, Modi is learnt to have requested Jaitley to reconsider his decision. It is not known if Jaitley agreed to stay on in the government. However, the buzz in political circles is that Jaitley could hold the post of a Cabinet minister without