Goa’s Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and Congress legislator Chandrakant Kavlekar on Monday said that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar needs to take rest, reported ANI.

“His mind is sharp, but physically he looks unwell,” Kavlekar said after attending a meeting of the Legislative Assembly’s Business Advisory Committee in which Parrikar was also present. “It is not nice to see him like this. He needs rest and he should take rest.”

Parrikar met Opposition legislators for the first time after a gap of several months. Kavlekar said the chief minister had not met Opposition MLAs since February last year.

Kavlekar said the Congress had cooperated with the state government on cutting short the last budget session from 22 days to four days. “We had supported the government because of Manohar Parrikar’s health in the past,” IANS quoted him as saying. “But now he should rest and let someone else administer the state because it is taking a toll on him.”

Parrikar is suffering from pancreatic cancer. He has been in and out of hospitals for several months and has made very few public appearances since October, when he returned to Goa after being discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.

The Congress has demanded Parrikar’s resignation, claiming that his prolonged illness has hindered administration and governance.