Goa Governor extends Cabinet committee tenure by another month

Panaji: Goa Governor Mridula Sinha on Monday extended the tenure of a three-member Cabinet Advisory Committee till May-end, belying recent indications by the Bharatiya Janata Party that ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar could return to Goa this month.

This is the Governor's second extension to the committee, whose term, following last month's extension, was set to expire on Monday.

A memo issued by the Governor’s office said, “The Chief Minister is pleased to direct that the arrangements made for the transaction of business of government in his absence on medical grounds shall be continued for a further period from May 1, 2018 to May 31, 2018 on the same terms.”

Goa unit BJP president Vinay Tendulkar had earlier this month said Mr. Parrikar, undergoing treatment in a New York hospital, would return to Goa and assume charge in the third week of May.

He had been hospitalised on three occasions, ever since he complained of stomach pain on February 15.

Before he left for the US on March 8, Mr. Parrikar had designated the CAC comprising Francis D'Souza (BJP), Sudin Dhavalikar (MGP) and Vijai Sardesai (Goa Forward) to oversee the day-to-day administration in his absence.

Initially, top BJP leaders in the State said the Chief Minister would return to Goa in April. So far, no official statement giving details of his ailment has been released by the State government.

Opposition parties have demanded that the BJP and the Chief Minister's Office make public the gravity of Mr. Parrikar's medical condition, but the BJP has rejected the demand.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena on Monday reiterated its demand that the people of Goa have the right to know the exact status of their Chief Minister's health.