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Congress urges Parrikar to resign gracefully, BJP says party is frustrated
With Manohar Parrikar back in hospital for treatment, the Congress has once again urged him to resign.
The Congress party in Goa on Saturday called on chief minister Manohar Parrikar to gracefully resign in the face of his failing health.
With the chief minister once again admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, this time for a pending medical check-up, the opposition Congress has stepped up its attack.
“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 to willingly show his true leadership qualities and let go,” Congress legislator and Reginaldo Lourenco said.
“Don’t go to the assembly like that. With that sort of a situation, where you have a pipe in your nose, where you have things coming out of your pocket (catheters) one should not come to the assembly. You (Parrikar) have ruled as a CM of your state, it does not suit you,” Lourenco also said.
Parrikar attended all three days of the recently concluded budget session of the Goa Assembly and in his brief budget speech, vowed to serve Goa till his last breath.
Late last month, Parrikar lashed out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi after the latter claimed that the chief minister had told him that he was not involved the decision to acquire Rafale fighter places when he was the defence minister.
During the chief minister’s earlier periods of hospitalisation in Goa, Mumbai, Delhi and New York, the Congress had called on him to resign or alternatively called on the Goa Governor Mridula Sinha to dismiss the government. The Congress had also staked claim to form the government, claiming to be the single largest party. Subsequently, two of its MLAs resigned and joined the BJP.
The Congress also said that BJP’s alliance partners were afraid of deserting the coalition fearing a Jammu and Kashmir like situation.
“They (coalition partners) also might be getting worried. They know that they (BJP) is ruling at the Centre. They have seen what has happened in Jammu and Kashmir. They may be worried about that being replicated here in Goa. No one will venture into this. No MLA wants their term to be over arbitrarily,” former chief minister Digambar Kamat said.
The BJP hit back saying calls by the Congress for Parrikar’s resignation was a result of their frustration.
“It is the frustration of the Congress that the government is doing well. There are a lot of projects including bridges and hospitals that are being inaugurated, which proves that the government is functioning well,” Damodar Naik, a BJP spokesperson and former MLA said.
The Congress now has 14 MLAs in the assembly the same as the BJP which also counts on the support of three members of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, the Goa Forward Party each and the three independents.
Parrikar was widely believed to be willing to let go of the reins when his ailment was first detected in February last year, or at least hand over charge of his portfolios to another senior minister in the cabinet. However, squabbling among alliance partners put paid to such a move.
