Manohar Parrikar to meet BJP legislators amid resignation demands

Panaji : Amid demands of his resignation, ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is expected to meet the ruling BJP legislators at his private residence on Saturday, party sources said on Friday.

“The Chief Minister will be meeting our party MLAs at his residence. He is expected to review works related to MLAs in the presence of key officials of the state administration,” a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) source said.

The former Defence Minister is being treated at his residence for advanced pancreatic cancer.

Parrikar has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and New Delhi for nearly nine months.

He returned from Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on October 14 and has not moved out of his private residence, for any official event since.

The Opposition, as well ruling coalition allies have been demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister, claiming that the administration has come to a standstill due to Parrikar’s absence.

On Thursday, Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte said that he had stopped visiting his office at the state Secretariat, claiming files were not being cleared by officials in the Chief Minister’s absence.

In the first week of December, the Congress is scheduled to start a state-wide agitation demanding the replacement of Parrikar as Chief Minister, because of his inability to attend office due to his prolonged illness.

IANS