PANAJI: In a rare departure from tradition, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has nominated Speaker Dr Pramod Sawant to represent him at official functions, while he proceeds to the USA for medical treatment.
The nomination of Dr Sawant has also indicated that Parrikar has no plans to revive the Cabinet Advisory Committee (CAC) for now, especially since two of the three members are also ill.
Among the events that Dr Sawant is expected to officiate include the state-level Independence Day function in Panaji on August 15, where Dr Sawant will hoist the national flag and will address the State.
Earlier, Dr Sawant along with the ministers and other leaders will also pay floral tributes at the memorial of Goa's first chief minister late Dayanand Bandodkar at Miramar on August 12, to mark the death anniversary of the departed leader.
Dr Sawant and other will then proceed to the Old Secretariat at Panaji and will pay tributes to the life-sized statue of Bandodkar, followed by garlanding of Bandodkar's statue at the Secretariat Complex at Porvorim.
The three-member CAC had been set up by Parrikar prior to his first visit to the USA for medical treatment.
One CAC member, Urban Development Minister and Mapusa MLA Francis D'Souza, is undergoing medical treatment in Mumbai and is not expected to attend the Independence day function.
The other CAC member, MGP leader and PWD Minister Sudin Dhavlikar, had also undergone surgery in Mumbai. Despite making his presence in the assembly, Dhavalikar is also unlikely to attend public ceremonies as he has been advised rest as part of his recuperation.
But besides medical reasons involving two members, the CAC is unlikely to be revived for political reasons as well.
The third CAC member, TCP Minister Vijay Sardessai, is a first-time minister and BJP leaders are understood to have insisted that a BJP legislator should be vested with control in the absence of Chief Minister Parrikar.
While some ministers are suffering from ill-health, the others are either first-time ministers or had recently joined the BJP, while others represent different parties.
This has effectively left Dr Sawant as the only option for the BJP leadership to officiate at functions in the absence of Parrikar.
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PARRIKAR to fly
to US on Aug 9
PANAJI: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will fly to the USA on August 9 for a second round of medical treatment. Parrikar has not handed over his charge to any one else and will manage the administration in the USA through phone calls and internet.
Parrikar is likely to return to Goa some time around August 18, but much would depend on consultations with doctors in the USA.
