Team Herald
NEW DELHI/PANJIM: The imbroglio over the State’s governance appears to have come to an end days before the inauspicious period of Pitru Paksha (fortnight of the ancestors) as Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is understood to have dropped the request he made last week to BJP President Amit Shah to relieve him as the CM in view of his deteriorating health. Parrikar has informed Shah that he will continue to take care of the administration while remaining confined to the hospital bed. The BJP leadership that went through all permutations and combinations has halted the exercise for any change.
Party sources said the leadership has conceded to Parrikar’s point that any decision as to appointing someone as the deputy chief minister or ruling through a 3-member coordination committee or replacing him with a Union minister or State BJP president will only destabilise the government, giving a handle to the Congress to capture power by luring the ruling coalition partners.
The leadership has also realised that Parrikar works as a sort of glue to keep the coalition flock together and any tweaking may prove counter-productive.
State BJP president Vinay Tendulkar confirmed that his party wants Parrikar to continue as CM. “With the absence of the CM, development may have slowed down but the government is stable. We have suggested that Parrikar should continue to be the Chief Minister of the State,” Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar’s name was being discussed in political circles as a contender for the Chief Minister’s post. “I want to reiterate that five Congress MLAs are trying to enter BJP. But we don’t want to break any party. We will move ahead with the present coalition partners,” Tendulkar asserted.
Party sources said Parrikar is being regularly briefed by the ministers and officials on developments in Goa and he has been issuing orders in important matters and as such the administration will not suffer because of his illness. Since the fortnight-long inauspicious period of ‘Pitru Paksha’ begins on Monday, Parrikar may shed some of his portfolios to other ministers only after that period is over on October 10, so as to reduce the work pressure on him, the sources added.
BJP is also worried of the numbers in case of a confidence vote. Besides Parrikar, Francis D’Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar are bedridden, which has brought down the party’s numbers from 14 to 11 in the House. With three MLAs each, MGP, GFP and Independents take the number of to 20, a half mark in the 40-member house, even if the three ailing ministers remain absent during the trust vote. Besides this, the BJP is unsure of acceptance of a new CM among its own legislators.
The party’s top brass believes that no other leader can fit into the shoes of Parrikar, the State’s tallest leader.
As regards Parrikar’s health condition, doctors in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where he was admitted last Saturday, have been told not to make public details of his illness and the kind of treatment being administered.
As per Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, who has been regularly visiting Parrikar in AIIMS, it is sufficient for the people to know that he is performing his duties as the CM and he is responding well to the treatment.
Except for the public knowledge that Parrikar is suffering from a ‘pancreatic ailment’ because of which he had to go to the United States thrice for treatment, no further details are available.
As a senior BJP leader underlined, illness of a leader is a private matter and let Parrikar and his family have the last word on the subject.
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Parrikar in isolation?
A minister, who attempted to meet Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar at AIIMS, told Herald he was unable to do so. “Nobody is allowed to meet him for now. Nobody is even telling us of his actual condition. He is sometimes okay, sometimes sick,” the minister said.
Sources at AIIMS said Parrikar has been put under treatment after doctors decided that his condition was critical and that he cannot be flown to the US for further treatment.
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Lobo, Cabral to be elevated?
There has been speculation that Speaker Dr Pramod Sawant may be asked to step down and join the Cabinet and subsequently become deputy CM, who will be a de-facto CM. However, BJP is worried that the election for a new Speaker may not be smooth, as the arithmetic may not work out in its favour. Sources reveal that Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo and MLA Nilesh Cabral are likely to be accommodated in the Cabinet in place of Francis D’Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar who are ailing.
