No need to replace Parikkar: Cabral

PANAJI: A minister in Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp)-led government in Goa and an alliance partner on Friday said there was no need to replace ailing chief minister Manohar Parrikar, a day after the party’s national president Amit Shah started discussion on an alternative.

Nilesh Cabral, the minister, questioned talk of a leadership change. “Who has told you we are seeking other leadership,” he asked the leader of Goa Forward Party Vijai Sardesai, who on Thursday had said that the BJP was “seriously considering the leadership issue.” Sardesai said speaker of the Goa Assembly Pramod Sawant, health minister Vishwajit Rane and BJP state president Vinay Tendulkar were potential replacements for Parrikar, who has been under treatment for a pancreatic ailment.

“Our BJP leader is Manohar Parrikar. I am speaking for the BJP party,” Cabral said.

The statement has only added to the intrigue surrounding who will succeed Parrikar, who had earlier expressed his inability to continue discharging his duties as chief minister.

While the Goa Forward Party appeared agreeable to a leadership change, Sudin Dhavalikar, leader of the other alliance partner, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, said he had spoken to the BJP leadership and was against replacing Manohar Parrikar.

A redistribution of portfolios could be done, he said. “I have told them (BJP’S central leadership) that they should avoid changing the leader as Parrikar is still there. They should instead focus on redistributing the portfolios,” Dhavalikar said. Meanwhile, the Congress accused the BJP of neglecting the people of Goa in a bid to cling to power.