It was on October 27, 2018, that the Goa government has officially announced that CM Manohar Parrikar is suffering from pancreatic cancer. This comes months following the ailing CM was admitted to the hospital many times for treatment. Last week, the Goa’s Health Minister Vishwajit Rane confessed that the state Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has pancreatic cancer, according to a report by IANS.
“He is the CM of Goa and the fact is that he is not well. He has got pancreatic cancer. There is no hiding of this fact,” the health minister was quoted as saying.
“Let him be peaceful with his family. That much right he has, after serving the people of Goa, that if he wants to spend some quality time with his family, nobody has the business to ask…,” Rane added.
Nonetheless, previously there were widespread speculations that Parrikar will soon call it quits from CM post, forcing the state into early polls. Before the reason for his deteriorating health was not said as the Goa BJP and the state administration refused to comment on his ailment.
Goa Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho, on Wednesday, said that CM Manohar Parrikar is completely fit and just needs a little rest. “He (Parrikar) participated in the discussion, gave his valuable suggestions. Except for the fact that the meeting didn’t take place at the Secretariat, everything else was like a normal cabinet meeting,” Godinho said.
The minister added, “He is meeting party people tomorrow, agenda has been cleared. Normal functioning won’t be impacted.”
On Wednesday, Parrikar demanded a cabinet meeting at his residence in Panaji. He also officiated the Goa Investment Promotion Board (GIPB) meeting in a bid to discuss and approve projects before the board.
Godinho’s statement comes following the state Congress claimed that Parrikar, who has been seen publicly for the last couple of days, might not be alive. Parrikar was discharged from the national capital’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on October 14 after undergoing treatment for a pancreatic ailment.
Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar was born on 13 December 1955. He is an Indian politician and leader of BJP who has been Chief Minister of Goa since 14 March 2017. Earlier, he was Chief Minister of Goa from the period 2000 to 2005 and from 2012 to 2014 respectively.
It was Parrikar who boldly proposed the name of Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate ahead of the 2013 BJP parliamentary elections convention in Goa. Then he extended his contributions in the BJP government under PM Narendra Modi as Defence Minister of India from the 2014 to 2017 stint. He is also a former member of the Rajya Sabha from UP.
