Lok Sabha elections 2019: Manohar Parrikar addresses party workers at Bambolim, Goa

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday pitched for unity among BJP workers, saying they should forget differences and work together to ensure Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory in the Lok Sabha elections.

With a tube in his nose, Mr Parrikar, who is battling from a pancreatic ailment, slammed the Congress, saying it will never come to power in Goa.

"I will not give a big speech today. I will reserve it for elections. All I will say today is that 25,000-30,000 workers should come together. Forget small differences and let us fight to make Modi ji as the Prime Minister again. There will be rumours spread, but our motive should be one, that this time it should be Modi ji. If we go with this spirit, we will achieve our goals," he said at an event for party workers in Bambolim.

Mr Parrikar has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, and New York since February 2018. He was reportedly admitted to AIIMS, Delhi on February 1.

A visibly frail-looking Mr Parrikar on January 30 presented the Goa Budget in the state assembly, asserting that he was "high on josh", a spin on a dialogue from the movie "Uri: The Surgical Strike".

For long, the Congress has been demanding that it should be allowed to form the government in the state, claiming that Mr Parrikar's illness and inability to attend office was affecting administration and governance.