Parrikar shifted from AIIMS in Delhi to his home in Goa. Ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will not resign as the head of the BJP-led coalition government, Goa BJP President Vinay Tendulkar said, ruling out "rumours" that the former Defence Minister was likely to step down from his post due to ill-health.
“There is a rumour which is being spread, that the CM will resign. This will not happen. He is a CM of the coalition for five years. He will complete that tenure and he will attend to work at office soon,” Tendulkar told reporters after a meeting of BJP leaders at the party’s Goa headquarters here.
“His health is fine. Doctors have advised him rest for two days. After that he will meet party officials, ministers and MLAs,” Tendulkar said.
Asked about the sudden decision taken to relocate Parrikar from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi to Goa on Sunday, Tendulkar said: “The treatment being given at AIIMS will be continued in Goa.”
Parrikar, being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer, was admitted to AIIMS on September 15. He has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and now Delhi for the last seven months.
Earlier, the Chief Minister’s Office in a statement said: “Parrikar’s condition has improved further. He had a chat with his family members… Doctors have advised him to rest for a week.”
Parrikar’s absence from office due to health reasons has triggered political upheaval in Goa, with ruling allies stepping up pressure on the BJP to shed some of the top portfolios currently held by the Chief Minister.
The Congress has also demanded that due to Parrikar’s ill-health, the state administration had come to a standstill and has demanded that Governor Mridula Sinha should dismiss the government.
Goa Forward Party President and Agriculture Minister Vijai Desai warned against dissolution of the Assembly even as the state Chief Minister is fighting a serious illness.
Goa Forward Party is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which leads the state government. Sardesai asked the BJP’s central leadership, including party President Amit Shah, to “keep their word” and ensure continuance of the coalition government in Goa and not go in for dissolution of the Assembly.
Sardesai’s comments assume significance as Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar remains seriously ill, plunging the state into political uncertainty.
“People of Goa are watching them because national parties need to keep their word. If they don’t keep their word, people don’t trust them. Now the onus is on them and they will have to fulfil their commitment to ensure that this government completes its term and gets the continued support of the central government,” Sardesai said in a video statement issued here on Monday.
The BJP is ruling the state in alliance with Goa Forward Party, and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.
“The BJP national president Amit Shah has assured me that the BJP national leadership is not interested to have a mid-term poll or to dissolve the House. As such, when our commitment is there, and their commitment is also there, the onus of this government continuing for the full five-year term now lies with the BJP central leadership,” he said.
Parrikar arrived in Goa on Sunday after being discharged from Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Parrikar, a former Union Defence Minister, was ferried in an ambulance from the airport and was taken inside his residence on a stretcher. (IANS)