The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday said that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar would not be replaced, reported PTI. Three senior party members B L Santhosh, Ram Lal and Vinay Puranik were sent to the state to review the situation after Parrikar was admitted to Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences on Saturday.

“There is no issue about the government and there is no demand of change in leadership from anyone,” Ram Lal said. The party’s state unit chief Vinay Tendulkar echoed the same. “The chief minister is in good health and there is no need to change the leadership. The core committee (of the Goa BJP) will meet tomorrow (Monday),” PTI quoted him as saying.

This runs contrary to demands from alliance partners that Parrikar be relaced. The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, an alliance partner in the state government, said on Saturday it was “high time” Parrikar handed over the charge to the seniormost minister during his absence. In addition to Parrikar, two other BJP legislators are currently in hospital – Urban Development Minister Francis D’Souza and Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar.

Speculation about Parrikar’s resignation has been rife since Thursday, when reports claimed he had been admitted to a hospital in Candolim.

Parrikar has been unwell for most of the year – he was admitted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital on February 16 with abdominal pain and food poisoning before he was taken to Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital and discharged on February 22.

He left for the United States for medical treatment in March. He travelled there again in August for a follow-up health review. On August 23, a day after his return, he was admitted to a hospital in Mumbai for another checkup.

On September 12, the Goa Congress wrote to the governor claiming that the chief minister may dissolve the Assembly before its term ends as he was “losing grip” over his allies. Earlier in the month, the Opposition party demanded that President’s rule be imposed in the state, claiming it was facing a “constitutional crisis” in Parrikar’s absence.

Seat share

The Goa Assembly comprises 40 seats, of which the Congress won 17 in the last elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party won 13, but is in alliance with the Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, both of which have three seats each. Three independent candidates have also allied with the BJP, taking the coalition government’s seat tally to 22.