Day after Goa min talks leadership change, another contradicts him

Panaji, October 19

In yet another flip-flop over the issue of leadership change in Goa, Power Minister Nilesh Cabral on Friday ruled out any alternative to ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

The minister also said his cabinet colleague and Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai’s discussion with BJP chief Amit Shah on Thursday about finding alternatives to Parrikar was only borne out of “personal interest”.

After meeting Shah, Sardesai had said they had discussed leadership alternatives to Parrikar, who has been ailing for more than eight months now. “The BJP leadership is seriously looking at leadership issues and I have explained to him (Shah) the aspirations of the Goan people... There are some names that are being discussed,” Sardesai had said.

Cabral said it was wrong to suggest that Parrikar, who is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi, was not active vis a vis his duties as a CM. The minister, however, conceded Parrikar was inaccessible to Goas on account of his illness. — IANS