A politician who served as Defence Minister and Chief Minister of Goa

Manohar Parrikar a well-known politician of India and leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He performed his duties as a Defence Minister from the year 2014 to 2017 in the National Democratic Alliance government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Earlier, he was the CM of Goa from 2000 to 2005 and from 2012 to 2014. Later on, after serving as Defence Minister, he was again chosen as the Chief Minister of Goa which he served from 14 March 2017 till he died.

Early Life of Manohar Parrikar

Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar, better known as Manohar Parrikar was born on 13 December 1955 to Gopalkrishna Parrikar and Radhabai Parrikar in a town of North Goa named Mapusa. He belonged to the community of Goud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB). This community is basically Brahmin caste whose staple food is fish. They are considered to be residing on the western coast of India. He did his schooling from Loyola High School, Margao. He was appointed as a Mukhya Shikshak in 1973 when he was in the High School. Later on, he joined IIT Bombay to pursue his career in Metallurgical Engineering. In the meanwhile, he continued his services to RSS till he finished his engineering studies from IIT.

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Family of Manohar Parrikar

He married Medha Kotnis in 1979 and has two sons Utpal Parrikar and Abhijat Parrikar. He lost his wife because of cancer in the year 2000.

Manohar Parrikar as a Leader

Parrikar was a part of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since his schooling days. He continued work as a RSS leader after his graduation and was elected as local director (sangchaalak in hindi) at a mere age of 26. He is sometimes narrated as having been a pracharak while serving in the RSS. He was not only the common man (aam aadmi) who became chief minister with his dedication and hard work. But a master strategist who could foresee others’ steps, a man known for his own discoveries whose counterparts are hard to find.

In 1994, Parrikar was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Goa when he was the member of BJP. Later on, in 24 October, 2000, he won the elections to become Goa CM which was for a short tenure till 27 February 2002. He served for another term as a CM of Goa after he was re-elected on 5 June 2002. He faced defeat in the elections of Goa by the Congress in 2007 which was led by Digambar Kamat.

In 2014, BJP acquired both the seats of Lok Sabha in Goa. He was unwilling to shift to Delhi but was convinced by Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister to become a part of the Central Government in November 2014.

He became the CM of Goa once again and was succeeded by Laxmikant Parsekar. In November 2014, he replaced Arun Jaitley to become the Minister of Defence. As a party candidate for the elected seat of Rajya Sabha from U.P. made his entry to the parliament easier.

For the fourth-time in his political career, he was sworn once again as the Chief Minister of Goa. Supported by Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Goa Forward Party (GFP) and three independent lawmakers in Goa, a coalition government was led by Parrikar.

Manohar Parrikar Illness and death

The whole country is in the state of mourning since we heard the news of demise of our Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Manohar Parrikar. Manohar Parrikar’s health was in news since February 2018. Goa CM was suffering from pancreatic cancer and had been in and out of the hospitals Goa,  Delhi, Mumbai, New York for his treatment. As he returned from New York, he was seen wearing a medical paraphernalia which is a nasogastric tube. His spirit towards battle with this deadly disease was appreciating. Nonetheless, he finally gave up and left for the heavenly abode on 17th March 2019 at his residence in Panaji. The President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind announced his death. The cremation rituals of Parrikar was organized with full state honors on the evening of 18 March 2019 at Miramar in Panaji. He was just 63 and his death left a political void in the state and the entire nation that cannot be filled easily. Moreover, it has unlocked a lot of upcoming challenges which were earlier taken care by him and his team.

After the death of Shri Manohar Parrikar, Pramod Sawant has been chosen as the new Chief Minister of Goa with two deputy Chief Ministers, Vijay Sardesai, chief of Goa Forward Party and Sudin Dhavalikar, MLA of Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party (MGP).

Image Source: India Today

Sources:

• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/manohar-parrikar-life-and-times-of-the-former-defence-minister/personal-life/slideshow/68462798.cms
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manohar_Parrikar
• https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/goa-chief-minister-manohar-parrikar-dies-at-63/story-VI0WY59ywNm9o2YxFOcWCP.html
• https://www.indiatoday.in/assembly-elections-2017/goa-assembly-election-2017/story/goa-election-result-cm-parrikar-mgp-gfp-965274-2017-03-12