Parrikar wanted to quit, BJP high command did not allow: Goa minister
Panaji, Nov 22: Goa Forward Party chief and Agriculture Minister Vijai Sardesai suggested on Thursday that the ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar wanted to resign, but the BJP high command vetoed it.
"He wanted to give up the CM's post altogether. He had even shown inclination to give away his portfolios (to other ministers) when he was admitted to a hospital during Ganesh Chaturthi festival," Sardesai said here.
"But then several things happened. BJP high command stepped into it (to resign or not) is not in his (Parrikar's) hands entirely," Sardesai told reporters.
Parrikar, 62, has been recuperating at his residence here since he was discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi on October 14. He is suffering from a pancreatic ailment.
Asked about independent MLA and Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte's remark that the administration has become sluggish in Parrikar's absence, Sardesai said, "I have always been saying that CM's ill-health has had some sort of impact, and it is showing."
To a question on another alliance partner Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) filing a petition against two former Congress MLAs who joined the BJP, the minister said it was surprising.
MGP has moved the Goa Bench of Bombay High Court, seeking to disqualify Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte, former Congress MLAs who recently joined the BJP.
"It is a matter between two constituents of the alliance -- BJP and MGP. So we are not concerned with it," Sardesai said.
"As far as MGP is concerned, its decision to go to the court is surprising....I can believe it is a preemptive move, they (MGP) have not lost anything, Congress has lost two MLAs," Sardesai said in a cryptic remark.
Speculation was rife earlier that MGP MLAs might join the BJP which does not have a majority on its own in Goa Assembly.
BJP spokespersons were not available for comment on Sardesai's remarks.
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Two people killed as poultry vehicle rams into parked truck in Belagavi
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Two people were killed, and another was severely injured after a goods vehicle transporting poultry birds allegedly rammed into a stationary truck on a national highway in Belagavi in the early hours of Tuesday, police said.
The deceased have been identified as Wasim (28) and Mubarak (22), both natives of Shivamogga district, they said.
The driver of the vehicle, Basavaraj Eerappa Hanchinamani (37), suffered critical injuries and has been admitted to a hospital, police said.
According to police, the accident occurred when the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle, allegedly due to drowsiness, and crashed into a truck parked along the highway.
The goods vehicle was en route from Kolhapur to Sorab in Shivamogga district, carrying poultry. Several chickens were also killed in the impact, a senior police officer said.
Police personnel from the Hirebagewadi Police Station visited the spot and conducted an inspection.
Injured people and the bodies of the deceased were shifted to a hospital, police added.
