india

Updated: Feb 04, 2019 17:33 IST

Goa will plunge into a political crisis the day Manohar Parrikar steps down as chief minister, BJP legislator and deputy speaker of the legislative assembly Michael Lobo warned on Monday.

Lobo, who was full of praise for Congress president Rahul Gandhi for calling on Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar also said that Parrikar is surviving on ‘God’s blessings’ in combating the ailment that “has got no cure.”

“As long as Manohar Parrikar is the Chief Minister there will be no crisis. The day Manohar Parrikar steps down as chief minister or if something happens, the day he leaves the job, there will be a political crisis,” Lobo told reporters at a function.

“He is very unwell, people have to understand that he’s sick. His ailment has go no cure. With God’s blessings he’s still living,” Lobo said.

Parrikar who is currently admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi for what his office described as a routine medical check-up tweeted a combative message on the occasion of World Cancer Day.

“Human mind can overcome any disease,” Parrikar said.

With the BJP in Goa dependent on the support of allies and independents and unable to agree on an alternative leader, Parrikar has ploughed on despite initially agreeing to shed his workload if not his post.

Late last week, the Congress leader Reginaldo Lourenço called on Parrikar to gracefully step aside.

“The Chief Minister should honourably resign or give charge to somebody. I’m not here to dictate terms to him, his party will dictate terms to him, but as a leader who has some class… he should take care of his health. I feel Manohar Parrikar has lost out on the opportunity,” Lourenço said.

The Congress has also said that they anticipated the government would make an attempt to dissolve the Goa Legislative Assembly pointing to the fact that the government only sought a ‘vote-on-account’ when it could have sought a full budget.

However, the Chief Minister has told the alliance partners that there will be no premature dissolution of the house with the ruling party saying that the government is stable and faced no threats.