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PM Modi pays homage to Manohar Parrikar in Goa
Thousands gathered on the streets of Panaji on Monday to catch a final glimpse of Manohar Parrikar as his mortal remains were brought to the BJP office.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered last respects to former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar in Panaji on Monday. Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also present. After paying their last tributes, Modi, Sitharaman and Goa Governor Mridula Sinha met the family members of Parrikar.
Parrikar, who died at his residence in Panaji on Sunday, would be accorded state funeral with full military honours today. The Centre had announced a national mourning after his death. The 63-year-old BJP leader was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in February last year and was repeatedly admitted to hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New Delhi and New York.
Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar belonged to a business family in Parra village (from which his family derives its name). He not only dominated Goa politics for two decades but was also a rare national leader from the state.
Thousands gathered on the steets of Panaji on Monday to catch a final glimpse of Manohar Parrikar as his mortal remains were brought to the BJP office for party workers to pay their last respect. His remains would be taken to Kala Academy, around three km from the BJP office, later on Monday, to allow the public pay their tribute to him. (Follow updates)
The final rites of Parrikar will be performed at 5 pm on Monday at the Miramar beach next to the memorial of Goa’s first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar, PTI reported.
MHA Joint Secretary S K Shahi, in an order issued on Sunday, said the defence ministry is requested to make arrangements for state funeral with full military honours. “It has been decided by the government that state funeral will be accorded to the departed dignitary,” Shahi has said in the circular.
Watch: RIP Manohar Parrikar: From an IIT engineer to BJP’s tallest leader in Goa
An IIT graduate, Parrikar made a mark as chief minister when Goa politics was hit by defections and unstable governments. He became the CM for the first time in October 2000 after a split in the ruling Congress. Parrikar projected himself as a leader who reached out to people across religious boundaries, attempting to woo the 26% Catholic community in the state.
Parrikar was appointed the country’s defence minister between November 2014 and February 2017. However, he returned to Goa politics after the BJP failed to win a majority in 2017. The Congress emerged as the largest party with 17 MLAs, while BJP stood second with 13 in the 40-member assembly. However, regional parties Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Goa Forward Party (GFP) – both with three MLAs each – and three independent legislators decided to support the BJP on the condition that Parrikar would head the coalition government.
Hours after Parrikar’s death, the BJP and its allies held extensive discussions that continued late into Sunday night but didn’t arrive on a consensus for the next Goa chief minister.
The BJP’s central leadership dispatched a team comprising Union minister Nitin Gadkari and party’s national joint organisation secretary B L Santosh who held discussions with BJP MLAs as well as leaders of alliance partners — the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the Goa Forward Party — and independents.
While initial indications were that the party was keen to arrive at a decision by Sunday night itself, leaders emerging from the meeting said their views were taken but no decision was arrived at.
