Congress skeptical on Manohar Parrikar's health, asks Goa CM to come clean on illness

Panaji: The Congress in Goa on Wednesday asked Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to come clean on his ailment, adding that the state administration had come to a standstill as he had been hospitalised for around a fortnight. [caption id=“attachment_4357757” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar. PTI[/caption] The very fact that Parrikar did not delegate the chief minister’s powers or depute a Minister to oversee the state machinery’s functioning proved he did not trust any legislator from his own party and ruling allies, Congress state unit president Shantaram Naik told the media in Panaji. “We have sympathies with Parrikar, but the Chief Minister should be transparent about his illness. He should be true to the people of Goa who have elected him,” Naik said. “Parrikar holds more than 20 portfolios, including important departments like home, mining and finance. As he was in hospital, the state administration and decision-making in these departments came to a standstill. Goa cannot afford this. The state is effectively headless for the last 15 days,” the Congress leader said. Parrikar was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai on 15 February for treatment of “mild pancreatitis”, the CMO said earlier. He arrived in Goa on 22 February and presented the state Budget in the Assembly before he was again admitted in a government hospital in Goa on Sunday.