Why is health status of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar kept in suspense? And what is the State BJP President Vinay Tendulkar up to by giving misleading updates about the ailing Chief Minister. A day after an informal meet of cabinet colleagues last week, Tendulkar spoke of the Chief Minister’s 90 per cent recovery. Sadly, a day later, Parrikar was shifted to the ICU of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi as his condition deteriorated. That same afternoon he was flown to Goa by a special flight and taken straight to his private residence in an ambulance. Video footage showed that Parrikar was being moved in a stretcher from the hospital bed to the aircraft. Nobody was allowed a glimpse of the Chief Minister, not the media and not even his Cabinet colleague Nilesh Cabral who was patiently waiting at the Dabolim airport.
Parrikar’s Dona Paula residence has now turned into a make-shift Intensive Care Unit. A team of doctors and para-medics from the Goa Medical College are on stand-by to tackle any emergency. Contrary to all this seriousness, the BJP State president again makes a disingenuous statement that Parrikar is recovering well and will be back to work in two days.
What’s the secret behind keeping the health status of the Chief Minister under wraps? People have ‘digested’ the fact that it’s a pancreatic ailment which is now at a critical stage. But what’s this suspense all about? And why the false propaganda when the people of the state know that the Chief Minister is fighting a grim battle? The people of the State are with Parrikar at this crucial phase. Prayers and offerings for his recovery will continue. The shouts of administration collapse have gone cold, and people of Goa have put down their banners of revolt over any shortcomings. If people have stood up for Parrikar, they have every right to know the condition of their Chief Minister. Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa spent two months at Chennai’s Apollo Hospital in December 2016. She was being treated for a serious respiratory illness and was in intensive critical care unit too but there were regular health updates released informing the people about the condition of her health.
People are now left to read between the lines of Nilesh Cabral’s prayer for a miracle and the flurry of political activity that has taken off after Parrikar’s return. While the suspense continues, political sharks have capitalized on the situation and have started making their moves. There are closed-door meetings being held while some are busy with their math, and yet there are a few leaders who have seized this moment of uncertainty and eyed the throne. Leaders who were swearing by Parrikar have suddenly started charting out a way ahead with or without him. The BJP too has swung into action. The leadership has given a clarion call to all its MLAs to hold public hearings and understand the difficulties faced by the people in a build-up to Lok Sabha polls.
As Parrikar continues to battle through, all that the people of the State are interested in for now is the status of his health and not the politics playing out in the background.
