Cong questions Parrikar's absence at Liberation Day function

Opposition Congress in Goa Wednesday questioned Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's absence at the state's 57th Liberation Day function.

Several programmes were held across Goa on the occasion of Liberation Day on Wednesday. In the absence of ailing chief minister, Legislative Assembly Speaker Pramod Sawant unfurled the national flag at the official function held here in the morning.

Parrikar, 63, has been recuperating at his private residence near here since October 14, after he was discharged from Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

"The BJP is busy in photo-ops of the chief minister by projecting him as a 'He-Man or 'Superman'," Goa Congress spokesperson Urfan Mulla told reporters here.

He was referring to Parrikar's recent visits to the two under-construction bridges on Mandovi and Zuari rivers.

The Congress said if the CM could visit the bridges, he could have also unfurled a tricolour on the Liberation Day.

"Parrikar had the time and fitness to inspect the bridges with doctors along his side, but could not attend the function to unfurl the tri-colour," he said.