the goan I network
PANAJI
Amidst speculation over his imminent ceding of the top political post, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was on Saturday shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi punctuating the frenzied political activity within the ruling coalition circles in the search for an alternative leader.
Parrikar was flown to Delhi on Saturday morning by a special chartered flight arranged by the Central government. He was immediately admitted to a private ward of the country’s premier medical institution where he has been put through a thorough examination of his medical condition.
At the AIIMS, reports said he is admitted to the private ward and is under the care of Dr Pramod Garg of the Gastroenterology Department. The BJP also deferred sending the central team of observers to assess the local political situation in Goa by a day. Instead of Saturday, as revealed by TCP Minister Vijai Sardessai on Friday, the observers Ram Lal and B L Shantosh, are now expected to arrive on Sunday afternoon.
The decision to shift Parrikar to AIIMS was taken to avoid a further trip to the United States where he had been undergoing treatment since March for his serious pancreatic ailment at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre. He has made three trips to the US thus far, including the initial three-month treatment course between March and June this year.
Earlier on Saturday, BJP President, Amit Shah, told the media in Hyderabad that no decision has been taken to replace Parrikar as Goa chief minister.
News agency reports from Hyderabad said Shah indicated that the party would take a decision at an “appropriate time” on finding an alternative leader to the ailing Parrikar.
“For now, we only wish Parrikar a speedy recovery. The party will take a decision at an appropriate time,” the agencies reported Shah as having said at a news conference when specifically asked if the decision has been taken to find an alternative leader.
There was also no sign of Parrikar allocating additional portfolios to his cabinet colleagues, a decision spoken of after he held deliberations with alliance partners and the BJP core committee members at the private clinic in Calangute on Friday.
They will meet with MLAs of the BJP and also confabulate with the leaders of the coalition partners and supporting Independents.
However, as indicated by Shah in his statements in Hyderabad, no major decisions are expected to emerge from the exercise to be undertaken by Lal and Shantosh on Sunday.
VASCO CORRESPONDENT ADDS: Ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar boarded the special flight at 9.45 am through the special Naval Gate of the Dabolim International Airport on Saturday.
Sources said the special flight was arranged by PM Narendra Modi and the decision to get admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences was taken after a telephonic conversation between Parrikar and BJP President Amit Shah on Friday night. In the conversation, Parrikar also offered to resign as Chief Minister due to health issues.
Parrikar left from the Calangute private hospital at around 8.45 am and entered via the Naval gate amidst tight security an hour later.
A police team from the Dabolim police station led by PI Shailesh Narvekar was seen monitoring the security arrangements while the guards of the Navy were on high alert as the private Innova vehicle ferrying Parrikar zoomed thorough the Naval Gate.
Two pilot cars were seen sandwiching the car while his son Utpal was already inside the naval gate a few minutes before the CM could arrive.
Traffic police were deployed to ensure there was no blockage to the CM’s motorcade.
