Battling a long fight with pancreatic cancer, Goa Chief Minister and former defence minister Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar passed away this evening. President of India Ram Nath Kovind shared the sad news on Twitter.
Extremely sorry to hear of the passing of Shri Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister of Goa, after an illness borne with fortitude and dignity. An epitome of integrity and dedication in public life, his service to the people of Goa and of India will not be forgotten #PresidentKovind
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) March 17, 2019
The Goa government had announced about his disease in October last year, and he had undergone treatment in the US and India, including AIIMS in Delhi. Despite the continued medical care, his condition did not improve much, and he was seen with a tube in his nose during his public appearances in recent times. Although physically ill, his spirit remained high throughout this period.
Manohar Parrikar’s health condition had worsened yesterday, and the deputy speaker of Goa assembly and BJP MLA Michael Lobo had said that doctors were not saying that he will recover. His condition remained extremely critical today, as informed by the Chief Minister’s Office of Goa.
Manohar Parrikar was born on 13th December 1955 in Goa, and was a graduate in metallurgical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He was the first IIT alumnus to serve as MLA of an Indian state. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at a young age, and became a sanghchalak at the age of 26. RSS had deputed him to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the objective of fighting the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party in Goa.
Manohar Parrikar became an MLA of Goa legislative assembly from BJP in 1994. On 24th October 2000 he became the Chief Minister of Goa for the first time, but his term ended in 2002. In that year, he was re-elected as Chief Minister in the elections. His govt fell in 2005 after few BJP MLAs defected to Congress. BJP lost the elections in 2007, but came back to power in 2012 as Parrikar as CM. When BJP won the Lok Sabha election in 2014, Manohar Parrikar was chosen as Defence Minister of the country, and he became a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh. After assembly election in 2017, he went back to Goa and took charge as Chief Minister.
On 14th February this year, BJP MLA and Deputy CM Francis D’Souza had passed away, this means BJP has lost two MLAs in the 40-member house where it does not have a clear majority. Congress party had already claimed majority after the demise of Deputy CM.
