The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s decision to retain an “ailing Manohar Parrikar as chief minister” of Goa despite his illness was “cruel and inhuman politics”. The Shiv Sena, which is an ally of the BJP in Maharashtra, said the ruling party was afraid of losing control over Goa.

The party in its mouthpiece, Saamana, said Parrikar’s absence had led to “anarchy” in Goa as no one in the BJP was “suitable” for the top office. “The state administration is in doldrums in the chief minister’s absence,” the editorial said.

On September 23, Bharatiya Janata Party National President Amit Shah said that Manohar Parrikar will continue to be chief minister of Goa. Parrikar, who has been suffering from a pancreatic ailment since February, was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on September 15.

The editorial said the chief minister and his Cabinet colleagues should work for the state and not the party. “Stress is not good for his [Manohar Parrikar] current fragile condition, but who will explain this to the BJP high command?” the editorial said. “They are more scared about losing the state than Parrikar’s health. Their motive is that Goa should remain on the winning map of the BJP.”

In March, Goa Shiv Sena spokesperson Rakhi Prabhudesai Naik had demanded President’s rule in the state. The Goa Congress has also asked the BJP-led government to prove its majority in a floor test in the Assembly.

On Monday, the government dropped Urban Development Minister Francis D’Souza and Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar, who are currently hospitalised, from the state Cabinet. Bharatiya Janata Party legislators Nilesh Cabral and Milind Naik were inducted instead.