Parrikar to join Modi cabinet, says BJP chief Amit Shah has given him NOC

Panaji: Ending frenzied speculation 58-year-old IITian and Goa’s chief minister has nearly confirmed his ‘promotion’ to the Union cabinet on Thursday, even as he said that the hunt for his successor in Goa would formally begin tomorrow. Parrikar told reporters at a crowded press conference, which was also attended by nearly all his officials on special duty and other officials from the chief minister’s office that Bharatiya Janata Party national president Amit Shah had formally directed him to accept any new responsibility, which will be offered to him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. [caption id=“attachment_1791359” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] “Party president Amit Shah talked to me in the morning and told me to accept any assignment given to me by the prime minister. The second part is the prerogative of the prime minister,” Parrikar said. Parrikar however did not categorically state the exact portfolio he would be allotted, even as media reports streaming in from New Delhi suggested that Parrikar, in his third term as chief minister would be allotted the defence portfolio and that Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was being relieved of his responsibilities as defence minister. “The official offer is yet to be received. That will come from the prime minister. That I should not deny it, that is the clearance from the party,” he also said. Parrikar, along with state party president Vinay Tendulkar and organising secretary Satish Dhond were suddenly summoned to Delhi Wednesday, where they met party president Amit Shah and Prime minister Narendra Modi. But Parrikar claims that the news of his promotion to the Union cabinet was broken to him by Shah only on Thursday. Parrikar also said that has also expressed his reservations about taking up a cabinet berth. “One reservation is obviously is because I am elected from the state for a five year term with a popular mandate. Obviously my feeling was that unless I complete my term it is not exactly not right on my part to leave in the middle,” Parrikar said. The chief minister, however, said that a national calling was greater than a calling to serve a state. Parrikar, however, in his trademark metaphorical style said that he had mixed feelings about leaving the shores of Goa, where he sharpened his political skill, to the intimidating power corridors of Delhi. “Have you ever eaten a half ripe mango? It is a bit sour and a bit sweet. My feelings are like that,” Parrikar said. If and when Parrikar becomes a full-fledged Union cabinet minister, he will be Goa’s first politician to hold such a position. The state already has representation in the Central ministry in form of Union Minister for Tourism and Culture (Independent Charge) Shripad Naik, while others like Ramakant Khalap and Eduardo Faleiro have been junior ministers in past Central governments. Speaking about his successor as the head of the state government here, Parrikar said that the party’s legislature wing would meet Friday and formally begin the process of electing their leader. The window for selection however is pretty small. “…it has to be before the 9th,” says Parrikar. While the BJP parliamentary board is expected to meet on the morning of Saturday (8 November) to put final touches to the cabinet expansion, the new ministers are expected to be sworn in on 9 November. While Parrikar refused to commit any name to the list of his successors, there are at least three senior local BJP leaders who are vying for the position. Apart from the three, one name which has now begun doing rounds is that of Shripad Naik who is keen on re-entry to local politics. Naik, who outranks Parrikar as far as local party seniority is concerned, was relegated to the fringes of ‘real power’ by the Parrikar camp over the years. “With Parrikar in Delhi, this could be the perfect time for Shripad to come back to Goa and take charge of state politics,” a close aide of Naik told Firstpost. The other top names in the contention Speaker of the state legislative assembly Rajendra Arlekar, Health Minister Laxmikant Parsenkar and Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza. Arlekar has stolid Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh credentials and also enjoys the confidence of Parrikar. One potential blip on his record, however, is a petition by a lawyer activist pending in a trial court accusing the speaker of allegedly amassing disproportionate assets. Parsenkar has been a state chief of the BJP on two occasions and like Arlekar has traditionally enjoyed the confidence of the chief minister. On Wednesday, both Arlekar and Parsenkar said they were not actively gunning for the top slot. D’Souza, on the other hand who has avoided the media, has in the past been a rallying point for dissenting legislators within the BJP, especially the Catholic legislators within the party. He is also one of BJP’s oldest minority faces. While his inconsistent health is a matter of concern, his appointment as chief minister could help the party appease the state’s 26 percent Catholic population.