Panaji: Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar arrived in his home state Sunday afternoon from New Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment at AIIMS for pancreatic ailment.
Parrikar, 62, was flown in a special flight and later taken to his private residence at Dona Paula near here, in an ambulance.
The flight landed around 2:35 pm at the state’s Dabolim airport and the ambulance was brought out from the gate of the naval enclave INS Hansa, which is a part of the Navy-run airport.
Earlier, Parrikar was on Sunday morning discharged from the AIIMS.
According to sources in AIIMS, he was in the morning shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for a while after his condition deteriorated. But later, the administration decided to discharge him.
The state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital here has made elaborate arrangements at his private residence with a team of doctors on standby to take care of his health.
Parrikar was admitted to the AIIMS on September 15.
On Friday, Parrikar met Goa BJP’s core committee members and ministers from coalition partners at AIIMS to discuss ways to ensure his government functions normally during his absence from office due to ill health.
Leaders of the ruling BJP and its allies, who met Parrikar separately, had ruled out any change in leadership in the coastal state.
The core committee is the BJP’s key decision-making body in Goa, comprising senior leaders like Parrikar, Union minister Shripad Naik and party state chief Vinay Tendulkar, among others.
Parrikar has been ailing since mid-February and has been treated at different hospitals including those in Goa, Mumbai and the US.
As reported by The Wire, Parrikar’s ill health had sparked an intense power struggle in Goa. The BJP relies on a segregated bunch of coalition partners all of whom were vying for the spot of chief minister. Among them were Ayush minister Sripad Naik and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) leader Ramkrishna Dhavlikar.
After two of his ministers were hospitalised Parrikar was managing 48 portfolios of the state and his absence created a stark power vacuum in Goa. “Parrikar’s dominance over BJP affairs in Goa, his brisk moves to nix any challengers such as Union AYUSH minister Shripad Naik and the concentration of all decision-making in his hands amplified the “strong leader” cult. But it also prevented the rise of a second-rung leadership in the party,” wrote Devika Sequeira, reporting for The Wire.
Union minister Naik told reporters in Panaji earlier in the day that it is okay if Parrikar undergoes treatment in Goa but he needs to take rest.
“There has been an improvement in his health compared to what it was when he was flown to AIIMS last month,” the AYUSH minister said.
The minister also said he had met Parrikar on Friday.
“I got the news that he is coming back but I can’t believe that he is returning. His health is improving and he was expected to stay at the AIIMS for a few more days,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said.
Naik dismissed any possibility of dissolution of the Goa Assembly and expressed confidence that the Parrikar-led government will complete its five-year term.
Questions over the stability of the Goa government have been raised by the Opposition Congress because of Parrikar’s illness.
In the 40-member Goa Assembly, the Parrikar-led government has the support of 23 MLAs.
These comprise 14 BJP MLAs, three each from the Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) as well as three Independents.
The Opposition Congress is the single largest party in the state Assembly with 16 MLAs.
(with PTI inputs)