the goan I network
PANAJI
In signs of another political implosion in the BJP-led ruling coalition government over the governance and policy stalemate owing to the absence in action of the pancreatic cancer-stricken Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party on Saturday demanded that temporary charge of the administration be handed over to PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar.
MGP President Deepak Dhavalikar said the administration is “paralysed” for eight months and it’s high time the ailing Parrikar hand over charge to his older brother.
The junior Dhavalikar said, an emergency meeting of the party’s central committee resolved on Saturday to urge the coalition government to find a replacement for the ill Parrikar at the earliest. He was addressing the media after the central committee’s meeting held at the party office in Taleigao.
Dhavaikar said, the administration is in a paralysis because of Parrikar’s illness. “He should hand over charge as soon as possible,” Dhavalikar said, adding that his older brother, who is the seniormost in the Cabinet was best suited for the role.
He also added a veiled threat saying if the demand to hand over the charge is not heeded soon, then the MGP will seriously consider contesting the Mandrem and Shiroda by-polls as well as the upcoming Lok Sabha elections separately.
“We will convene another Central Committee meeting and begin the process of identifying our candidates for these elections,” Dhavalikar said.
Parrikar, who was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February has been in and out of hospitals in New York, Goa, Mumbai and Delhi. Given his hands-on style of functioning, his long absences from office due to his medical treatment has left the government rudderless.
In August he was airlifted to the AIIMS Delhi at the instance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but an attempt to replace him as Chief Minister was quickly aborted by the party’s Central leadership after a team of central observers failed to drum up consensus on a successor.
Parrikar returned from AIIMS Delhi on October 15 but has since been confined to his private residence where his condition is being monitored round the clock by a team of doctors from the Goa Medical College. He has also not made any public appearance and his engagement with the outside world till date were restricted to third-party communications, tweets from his official twitter handle and a couple of photographs of meets he is said to have chaired at his residence of his cabinet and the Investment Promotion Board.
Meanwhile, the MGP will participate in the protest planned at Jantar Mantar in Delhi during Parliament’s upcoming winter session in support of the demand for early resumption of iron ore mining in the State.
An organization of mining dependents is planning to hold a 3-day stir in Delhi to pressurise the Central government to work out a mechanism to restart the sector which has been banned by the Supreme Court since March.
The ruling BJP, both in Goa and the Centre including the party’s National President Amit Shah, have committed to a mechanism to resume mining in Goa at the earliest. The issue could be the single-most important factor in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
