Congress MLAs to seek meeting with Parrikar via video conference

Declined permission for an appointment with ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, the Congress on Monday said its leaders would seek a meeting via video conference.

"We have tried meeting him on so many occasions, but our requests for an appointment were turned down. We will seek an appointment with the Chief Minister for a meeting via video conference," said Congress Legislature Party spokesperson Aleixo Reginaldo at a press conference in Panaji.

He said Parrikar was meeting BJP legislators and leaders, but had not agreed to meet a single Congress MLA since his return earlier this month from AIIMS in Delhi.

The Congress reaction comes days after Parrikar's aides said the Chief Minister had chaired a meeting, via video conference, of the controversial Investment Promotion Board, which cleared business proposals worth several hundred crore.

Questions are being raised about the meeting by the Opposition and civil society groups, which claim that the meeting was conducted in Parrikar's absence with no video conference, hence rendering its clearances as invalid.

Parrikar is being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer.

Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, who was also present at the press conference, said the BJP-led coalition government should heed to the party's request for a medical bulletin with an update on Parrikar's health.

IANS

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