Goa Cong seeks appointment with ailing Parrikar

The Goa Congress Sunday said it would seek an appointment with ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to apprise him of how BJP leaders and state bureaucrats were taking "advantage" of his absence from office.

Congress' Goa unit spokesperson Swati Kerkar said the chief minister's office and the BJP have been claiming that Parrikar's health was improving but appointments sought by her party had been denied on health grounds.

Parrikar is suffering from a pancreatic ailment and is currently being treated at his residence here after returning to the state on October 14 from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

"We want to bring to the Chief Minister's notice how his office and the party are taking undue advantage of his absence to threaten staffers whose family members are associated with the Congress," Kerkar said.

She alleged that the state administration had "collapsed" and bureaucrats were taking advantage of the situation as there was "no one" to hold them accountable.

"Today, if the Chief Ministers health is improving and he is clearing files and chairing meetings through video-conferencing, then the Congress delegation should be allowed to meet him," Kerkar said.