Manohar Parrikar to fly to Delhi for treatment, expresses inability to work as Goa CM; BJP explores options

Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who was admitted to a hospital in Candolim on Thursday, will be moved to New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for further treatment on Saturday.According to reports, Parrikar has expressed his desire to give up the chief ministerial position temporarily, owing to his declining health. NDTV  reported that he spoke to BJP chief Amit Shah and conveyed his inability to work normally.To reduce his work burden, portfolios will be distributed among the existing ministers, said Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo on Saturday. "Portfolios would be distributed today (Saturday) to existing ministers so that the administration of Goa can run smoothly and ministers can take decisions on any files. He will distribute 48 portfolios, but will keep two or three like Home, Finance, GAD for himself," Lobo told reporters after meeting Parrikar at a private hospital in the beach village of Candolim.Lobo also said, that the decision of change of leadership has not been taken yet and that Parrikar would continue as the chief minister.[caption id="attachment_5054751" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File image of Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar. Reuters[/caption]Earlier on Thursday, Parrikar, who returned from the US after medical check-up on 7 September, was admitted to a private hospital at Candolim in North Goa district. The Goa chief minister has been suffering from a pancreatic ailment  for the last seven months.A central team of Bharatiya Janata Party observers is also expected to arrive in Goa and meet legislators and representatives of allied parties, while also finalising an alternative leader of the BJP-led coalition government in Parrikar's absence.Earlier this year, he was admitted to a hospital in the US for nearly three months. Since his return last week, Parrikar has not attended any official meetings. CMO officials had said he was clearing files from home and would start attending meetings and functions after Ganesh Chaturthi. However, the festival which began Thursday, is over.In the backdrop of his hospitalisation, the Goa BJP held a meeting of its state-level core committee on Friday. While the party did not reveal details of the meeting, a participant, on condition of anonymity, told PTI it was a "general meeting" which discussed the "existing political situation" in Goa. The party's core committee, which met at Mapusa, comprised three Members of Parliament from the state (two Lok Sabha and one Rajya Sabha) as well as senior leaders.The core committee also later met Parrikar.Apart from Parrikar, two more members of the Goa Cabinet are currently hospitalised. Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar and Urban Development Minister Francis D'Souza are both hospitalised in Mumbai. Madkaikar underwent a surgery in June in Mumbai's Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital after he suffered a brain stoke. D'Souza, BJP legislator from Mapusa constituency, had come to Mumbai for a medical check up.Sudin Dhavalikar may be temporary Goa chief ministerAccording to a Times of India report, there are talks of PWD Minister Ramkrishna 'Sudin' Dhavalikar of taking over Parrikar's position as a temporary chief minister. The report quoted BJP sources as saying that Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party's (MGP) Dhavalikar, the senior-most member of the Goa Cabinet, is likely to be given temporary charge of the 19-month old government. MGP is the coalition partner in the Goa government."No decision is taken to give charge to Dhavalikar. It will be decided after the BJP observer meets MLAs of BJP and alliance partners on Monday," a BJP official told the newspaper.With inputs from agencies