Arun Jaitley To Miss Parliament Monsoon Session

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will not be attending the crucial monsoon session of Parliament which begins on July 18 and ends on August 10.

Arun Jaitley remains quarantined on doctors' orders following a successful kidney transplant surgery that he underwent at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences on May 14.

With Jaitley out of action, the Bharatiya Janata Party will have to select a new, temporary leader of the house in the Rajya Sabha, a post currently held by Jaitley. The finance ministry, Jaitley's other big responsibility, is currently being handled by railways and coal minister Piyush Goyal.

The role of the leader of the house in Rajya Sabha is crucial as the Opposition is expected to raise several issues including rumour-driven mob lynchings, the BJP-PDP split in Jammu and Kashmir and the rise in terror activities in the Kashmir Valley.

Jaitley's current role in the government is also something that opposition parties might raise. "The most important question for us also will be that who is the finance minister of the country? Jaitley without charge or Goyal with charge (sic)," an Opposition leader said.