Ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is undergoing medical treatment in the US since March, through a video message said that he would return to his home state in the “next few weeks”.
“I am not there among you all for the last two months as I am undergoing treatment. I will be back in Goa in the next few weeks. But the treatment is working well and I hope that in the coming few weeks I will join you with more vigour”, the Goa Chief Minister said in the pre-recorded video message for BJP workers meeting in Panaji (Goa).
Parrikar in his video said that he could not attend the party workers’ meeting because of his health but exhorted the cadres to get ready for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and said the country needed Narendra Modi as Prime Minister again.
The video message was played at a BJP workers’ meeting, which was addressed by party president Amit Shah, and was also uploaded on Parrikar’s official twitter account.
My message to BJP Booth Karyakartas. pic.twitter.com/cgkfIY31cF
— Manohar Parrikar (@manoharparrikar) May 13, 2018
The Congress has demanded the appointment of a “full-time” chief minister for the coastal state in Parrikar’s absence.
In the absence of the chief minister, a three-member advisory committee, comprising cabinet ministers, is looking after the day-to-day affairs of the government.
The 62-year-old left for the the United States on 6 March from Mumbai, where he was undergoing treatment at the Lilavati Hospital for a pancreatic ailment.
Parrikar has not been well since 14 February. He was admitted to the state-run Goa Medical College (GMC) after he complained of stomach pain.
He was taken to the Lilavati Hospital for further treatment where he spent around a week before returning to Goa just before the presentation of the state budget on 21 February.
After a few days, he was again admitted again to Lilavati on 5 March before his departure to the US.
(With agency inputs)