Manohar Parrikar likely to return to Goa today; chief minister had met coalition partners, reviewed pending work on Friday

Panaji: Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar is likely to return on Sunday from Delhi, where he has been undergoing treatment for a pancreatic ailment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), a senior government official said on Saturday. Parrikar (62) was admitted to AIIMS on 15 September.

“The chief minister is likely to be brought to Goa in a special flight on Sunday from Delhi. The doctors who are treating him at the hospital would certify on Sunday morning whether he is fit to travel back home,” the official of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said. If he returns to Goa, Parrikar will stay at his private residence in Panaji, he added.

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. He also reviewed pending development works and discussed the distribution of some of his portfolios to his cabinet colleagues.

However, leaders of the ruling BJP and its allies, who met Parrikar separately, had ruled out any change in leadership in the coastal state. Parrikar has been ailing since mid-February and has been treated at different hospitals including those in Goa, Mumbai and the US.