The confident Manohar Parrikar whose studious nature impressed me so much that I gave up my career to join hands with him in politics, retained these qualities till the end though in many other areas there were some perceptible changes which even earned him the sobriquet of “U turn”.
When he was first elected to the Goa Legislative Assembly in 1994, as one of the four BJP MLAs, he was the star legislator from day one even though the main opposition party the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party had, at that time, its firebrand Dr Kashinath Jhalmi. It was Manohar who emerged as the main opposition with his very precise questions that ensured that the minister was made accountable.
He always carried a bunch of papers with him, which he constantly shuffled and referred to giving the impression that he had all the information with him and this confidence in his ability to gather information impressed me so much that when he asked me to contest the elections from Cuncolim constituency as his party candidate I readily agreed only after telling him that being a working person I would need security of a job if I lost the elections.
He honoured that promise as when he became the chief minister on 24th October 2000 he appointed me in his office and I was back to working to keep my head afloat. As my appointment was co-terminus with him being the chief minister, I lost my job when he ceased to be the chief minister. When he returned to be the chief minister in 2012, I was once again appointed on his staff and remained there till he left for Delhi to become the Union Defense Minister.
Working in his office was a great learning experience as it taught me to be precise and prompt in my work with leisure and pleasure coming only after the work was over. Reporting for duty at an unearthly hour of 8 am was difficult initially as I used to live in Margao, but became a routine thereafter. It was indeed a mission to be present in the office at 8 am and receive instructions from him.
By afternoon when he returned to the office at the official bungalow, the work allotted in the morning had to be accomplished and kept on his table for his action. If the letters typed found favour with him, he would sign them otherwise note down the changes and they would come back for the corrections.
Workaholic that he was, he brought about a sea change in the attitude of government servants who were compelled to attend to the people and listen to their grievances. He conducted surprise checks at various departments to catch government servants not on duty or coming late to work. The fear of the surprise checks ensured that staff would report for duty when they were supposed to.
He was a quick decision maker and that earned him the reputation of being a good administrator. Although many did not like his style and called him arrogant, personally I feel he suffered from arrogance of confidence which could not be understood by most.
He was the only BJP leader that was acceptable to the minorities. Catholics were comfortable with him as he was an ex-student of the Jesuit managed Loyola High School. Besides his communication skills, particularly ability to speak in English and Konkani without hesitation, was a bonus as most other BJP leaders were hesitant to speak these languages. He used this ability to communicate with the Catholics in Salcete to the maximum with the media terming his visits to Salcete as Mission Salcete.
Manohar was an extremely sensitive person and quite emotional at that. Though he was stoic in public, even when his wife Medha died, those who knew him personally saw him going through the pain particularly as Medha managed the house for him while he was busy with his public life. In fact Medha died during the period he had sought her leave to be in public life following which he would be with her. Because she was no longer there, he continued with politics and worked hard as a leader of opposition and chief minister.
While he appeared to be very impersonal he would make it a point to give personal touches at every given moment. He would note in his diary the birthdays and other occasions of people so that he could wish them or visit them as he did attend the my brother’s wedding reception or called me up from Delhi when my mother passed away.
There is no doubt that for Manohar the well being of Goa and Goans was paramount and his political moves were always keeping that in mind. However, it is true that in recent time, probably due to politics of coalition he diluted many of his earlier views and appeared to be a changed man only keen to retain power. And that is why it is difficult for me to comprehend how a man who believed that rules should be equal to all continued to be the chief minister despite his ill health even though he dropped two ministers who were sick. But it is quite probable that he wanted to retain power because he was confident that only he could steer Goa through the mess it is going through.
