Arun Jaitley will be designated ‘minister without portfolio’ while Piyush Goyal takes charge of his ministries for the second time in a year.
New Delhi: With finance and corporate affairs minister Arun Jaitley away in the US for treatment, Piyush Goyal, the minister of railways and coal, has been given charge of his portfolios for the second time in less than a year.
According to an official communiqué, Jaitley will be “designated as minister without portfolio” till the time he is able to resume work.
This means that in all likelihood, Goyal will be presenting the interim Budget on 1 February, sources said.
Earlier, Jaitley had hinted that there could be a big announcement in the budget, and that it may go beyond the traditional vote-on-account.
“The President, as advised by the Prime Minister, hereby directed that during the period of indisposition of Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister, the portfolios of Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs held by him, be temporarily assigned to Shri Piyush Goyal, in addition to his existing portfolios,” said a finance ministry statement released late Wednesday evening.
Also read: Jaitley is in good health and will soon resume duties: Piyush Goyal
What Goyal can expect
An official source said that Goyal is familiar with the finance ministry and its functioning. However, he added that with several economic indicators not looking satisfactory, Goyal will have his hands full, especially with the Lok Sabha elections approaching.
“Finance is an extremely critical portfolio and this cannot be run without a minister, especially at this point in time. Goyal is familiar with the ministry and much will depend on him,” the official, told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.
Last May, Goyal was given charge of the ministry for over three months when Jaitley was recovering from a kidney surgery. Jaitley resumed his duties in August, though he had been working from home and even held meetings with senior officials of the ministry there.
On several occasions during the May to August period, while Goyal attended functions as finance minister, Jaitley made appearances through video conferencing.
Also read: Piyush Goyal slams RBI under Urjit Patel — one cannot have power without being responsible
Wishing FM Arun Jaitley a speedy and complete recovery. 2. The conventions surrounding an Interim Budget are sanctified by long standing tradition. This is meant to be a bare bones exercise. Either the incumbent will return to power or it will not. If the former, it has the freedom to present a wide ranging Budget of its choice, going beyond some hurried measures that are introduced in this one. If the latter, it would have usurped the rights and prerogative of its successor.