india

Updated: Dec 18, 2018 08:46 IST

Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s decision to go for a ride and inspect two upcoming bridges in the state may have drawn sharp reactions from leaders across the political spectrum. But, the ailing chief minister through his picture with a feeder tube protruding from one nostril has sought to have told his detractors that he is still in-charge of the state.

The timing is significant considering that there was speculation in Goa political circles that with the elections to the five states over, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s central leadership could finally deal with Goa’s “leadership issue” amid the ongoing petition in the Bombay High Court’s Goa bench seeking to make the chief minister’s health condition public.

The state BJP had promised that its central leaders that it would look into the issue of “leadership change” as demanded by alliance partners after the results of the five states. But, the chief minister sought to put an end to that speculation.

“There is no question of a stunt. CM was to go to inspect the bridge on his birthday. He could not go because of some difficulty, but he had the desire to go and see it. But the way the Congress has politicized his illness is not proper from a humanitarian point of view,” state BJP general secretary Sadanand Shet Tanavade told reporters.

“With this visit, curtains come down on the politicization of the Chief Minister’s illness,” Tanavade added.

Not just the Congress, which has been consistently demanding ‘proof’ that the chief minister was fine, the BJP’s own alliance partners such as the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) have blamed the BJP leadership for things coming to a standstill. The MGP vowed to withdraw its support to the government if the charge is not handed over to its leader and PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar by December 15. They have since pushed forward that deadline to year-end.

Another alliance partner, the Goa Forward Party (GFP) had called for an early ‘delegation of the chief minister’s powers.

“Delegation of power needs to take place. If it happens earlier it is better. The code of conduct will come in force, so if it happens later there will be no benefit. It is finally for the ruling party to take a call,” GFP supremo Vijai Sardesai had said.

The Congress, however, has accused the ruling BJP of using the chief minister as a ‘doll’ for political purposes.

“We are feeling bad that in this state, he has to go out and pose for a picture,” Congress spokesperson Amarnath Panjikar said.

Photos of the chief minister evoked sharp responses online.

“He has a tube inserted through his nose into his digestive tract. How inhuman to force him to deal with his illness without all this pressure and tamasha?” former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted.

“Can a party be so power hungry to make a man work despite his illness? With BJP impossible is nothing… to grab power, latch on to power. Take care CM Saab, because clearly your party won’t,” Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted.

The Chief Minister had left the confines of his private residence at Dona Paula in the state’s capital on Sunday for the first time since his discharge from AIIMS New Delhi on October 15.