Amid rumours about health, Parrikar chairs official meeting

Amid speculation surround his health, ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar late on Tuesday chaired a meeting of the state Investment Promotion Board at his private residence near Panaji.

Parrikar, who has not made a public appearance since his return from Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences on October 14, met the members of the board that included several cabinet ministers, industrialists and other officials at the meeting which lasted more than an hour.

A photograph released by the state Bharatiya Janata Party, showed a bare-footed Parrikar wearing a trademark half-sleeved shirt and dark blue trousers seated on a sofa with pillows on his left thigh with other members of the Board alongside him.

"The Chief Minister is in good health. He made positive suggestions during the Board meeting," said Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte after the meeting late on Tuesday.

Over the last couple of days, opposition Congress has demanded a video or photographic proof of the Chief Minister's well-being.

Parrikar, who is currently being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer, has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi.

His absence has created a leadership vacuum in Goa, even as the opposition has demanded that he step aside to focus on treatment.

On Wednesday, Parrikar is expected to chair a meeting of the state cabinet, one of the first formal meetings to be held in the last several months.

--IANS

maya/prs