TEAM HERALD
MAYEM: The Raksha Mantri, former chief minister Manohar Parrikar seems to be finding it difficult to let go of the apron strings of his native land – Goa. Even as on one hand he is defending his turf — Panjim — on the other hand he is all over the State inaugurating something, laying foundation stones somewhere, or attending a function in some other place.
Today, he inaugurated the two-day Ravindra Mahotsav at Ravindra Bhavan at Sanquelim. He was also supposed to lay the foundation stone for a road in the city. A couple of days ago — Christmas Day, christened Good Governance day by the Modi government — he accompanied Union Minister Shripad Naik in a clean Panjim programme.
And all this, as he is fighting to put the defence forces — especially its procurement system, that has resulted in major shortfalls in equipment and even ammunition and warplanes — on an even keep.
Admitting that the Defence Ministry is quite a challenging task, Parrikar told his Sanquelim audience that he would bring out unique changes in the existing status of Defence Ministry within one year. He also praised Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar’s 45-day reign as head of the Goa government.
Parrikar has taken the campaigning for the constituency very seriously, especially as there is a certain amount of resentment among even BJP supporters against him let alone the voters who used to vote for Parrikar, but now may not be so forthcoming as they are basically not BJP workers.
