BJP pushing Parrikar to work despite illness: Goa Congress

Vartha Bharati | 22-06-2018 | 16:34:00 IST

Panaji, June 22: Lashing out at the BJP for pushing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to return to office despite his illness, a top Goa Congress leader on Friday said it was a "suicidal move" for Parrikar.

State Congress President Girish Chodankar also said that the administration in Goa had become sick because of Parrikar's prolonged illness.

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party was forcing work on the ailing Chief Minister, who recently returned from a nearly three-month-long treatment for pancreatic cancer in the US.

"The Congress party and those close to Parrikar feel that it is a suicidal. He is ruining his health and it amounts to suicide. Is his party forcing him to do it? The BJP is being irresponsible with Parrikar's health," Chodankar said.

"Is BJP forcing him to work and creating a new genre of sympathy politics in Goa?" Chodankar asked, adding that the Congress was worried about Parrikar and advised him to focus on his health and assume charge when he is fit.

He said Parrikar had advised that those who have a cold should not come close to him. "This indicates that not all is well with him and there is still a medical restriction on him."

Parrikar returned to Goa and assumed charge as Chief Minister on June 14, after undergoing treatment at a New York hospital for advanced pancreatic cancer. He was earlier also hospitalised in Mumbai and Goa in February.

Chodankar said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi could temporarily divest Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's portfolio and hand it over to another minister while Jaitley was undergoing a medical procedure, why should the Goa Chief Minister suffer who is not fully fit yet.

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Time has come to implement Women's Reservation Act: PM Modi's letter to LS, RS floor leaders

12-04-2026 ¦ 12-04-2026 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PTI)

New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the time has come for the implementation of the Women's Reservation Act in its true spirit and the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections are conducted with the quota for women in place.

In a letter to the floor leaders of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, ahead of the three-day special sittings of Parliament, Modi also asked all members to come together in one voice to pass the amendments to the women's reservation law, officially known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.

"After extensive deliberations, we have reached the conclusion that the time has now come to implement the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in its true spirit across the country.

"It is imperative that the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections are conducted with women's reservation in place," the Prime Minister said in his letter dated April 11.

The Budget Session of Parliament has been extended, and a special three-day sitting of the House has been convened on April 16 to 18.

The Women's Reservation Act will ensure an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816, of which 273 will be reserved for women.

The provision to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was brought by amending the Constitution in 2023.

However, the women's quota would have come into effect only after the completion of the delimitation exercise on the basis of the 2027 Census. This meant the reservation would not have become enforceable before 2034 if the present law remains as is.

To implement it from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, changes were needed in the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam; hence, the government is holding a special session to pass the amendments to the law.