An ailing Manohar Parrikar has not been able to attend office for months.

Parrikar’s health gets BJP worried; Congress stakes claim as single largest party

Ailing BJP: Apart from CM Parrikar two other senior ministers are seriously ill

Agency Report | Panaji | 17 September, 2018 | 07:00 PM

As Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has been in and out of hospitals for treatment in the last few months, the Congress has staked claim to form the government on tne ground that the administration has collapsed. While the BJP has maintained that the alliance government in the coastal state is stable and no demand has been made for a change in leadership, the Goa Congress demanded that the BJP-led state government be dismissed. The Congress, which has 16 members in the 40-member state Assembly, submitted a memorandum to the Governor Mridula Sinha, urging her not to dissolve the Assembly and instead invite the Congress to form the government. The party also claims it has the support of four other MLAs. The Congress had lost out to the BJP in forming the government despite being the single largest party.

Even as the ruling BJP-led coalition alliance looks for a new leader to replace ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Congress MLAs on Monday staked claim to form a government in Goa.

Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar visited Raj Bhavan and submitted a letter to Governor Mridula Sinha’s office signed by all 16 Congress MLAs, demanding that she should not dissolve the Assembly and pave way for a fresh election.

This follows the political turmoil following Parrikar’s airlift to a Delhi hospital last week. The Congress urged the Governor to instead invite the Congress, the single largest party, to form a government.

“We have requested the Governor that the government should not be dissolved and put the state on the path of elections. We have also asked her not to impose President’s Rule or keep the House in suspended animation. People have elected us for five years… Imposing an election after a mere 18 months is not good for anybody,” Kavlekar said.

In a formal demand to Sinha, Kavlekar has said: “That any recommendation for dissolution of the Goa Assembly ought not to be accepted… That the Congress is the single largest party ought to be invited to form the government.”

Kavlekar said he feared that a false letter or statement may be submitted to the Governor claiming the Congress recommended dissolution of the state Assembly.

“We also apprehended that false letters or statements may be placed attributed to Leaders of the INC (Indian National Congress), claiming there is a desire on the part of the INC to accept the recommendation for dissolution of the Goa legislative assembly. This is not true and should not be accepted without adverting to a floor test,” the letter said.

Sinha is currently not in the state and is expected to return to Goa on Tuesday.

Kavlekar’s staking the claim comes at a time when BJP central observers are in the state meeting leaders of their own party and allies to finalise an alternative for Parrikar who has been fighting advanced pancreatic cancer for several months.

He has been shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.

State Congress President Girish Chodankar in a letter to the Governor last week also warned her against dissolving the House, seeking an opportunity for the Congress to form a government.

The Congress is the single largest party in the 40-member Goa Assembly with 16 MLAs, while the BJP, with 14 MLAs, is supported by three members each of Goa Forward and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, a Nationalist Congress Party legislator and three independent MLAs.

What queers the pitch in the number game, however, is the health conditions of three BJP MLAs. While Parrikar is severely afflicted with cancer, Urban Development Minister Francis D’Souza is currently undergoing treatment for cancer in New York and Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar, who suffered from a brain stroke some months back, is bed-ridden at his private residence near Panaji.
A BJP central team met former Goa party lawmakers after little headway was made over an alternative leadership in the absence of ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

A series of meetings which are being held at a hotel here are being chaired by BJP’s National General Secretary (organisation) Ram Lal and his associates B.L. Santosh and Vijay Puranik.

“We have said that the Chief Minister should continue. It will be for the good… He is undergoing treatment and will recover sooner or later. There was no discussion on whether someone else should be appointed in charge. The High Command will decide that” former Power Minister Mahadev Naik said.

On Sunday, Ram Lal and his team had met sitting Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs and allied legislators to chart out a political roadmap following Parrikar’s hospitalisation at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi last week for treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.

While all the BJP MLAs and coalition partner Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party have also rooted for Parrikar continuing as Chief Minister, another alliance partner Goa Forward and three Independent MLAs demanded a “permanent solution” to the ongoing leadership crisis.

Before the meetings on Monday, Ram Lal played down the leadership change issue insisting that the party was only discussing its preparations for the Lok Sabha polls.

“It is Lok Sabha polls preparation agenda. No leadership agenda. What is discussed in the meeting does not come out. What comes outside is not what is discussed in the meeting,” he said.

When asked to comment on Parrikar’s health and whether a permanent solution was being worked out the BJP leader said: “We will discuss it with the core committee.” (IANS)