After flak, Goa BJP postpones 'victory rally for Parrikar

Panaji, Oct 3: The BJP's Goa state unit on Monday said it has postponed the proposed "victory rally" to honour Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar over the Indian Army's surgical strikes across the Line of Control.

"The Defence Minister is busy with important meetings. So, he will not be able to come to Goa tomorrow (Tuesday). Therefore, we have postponed the victory rally (scheduled for Tuesday)," Bharatiya Janata Party's Lok Sabha member from South Goa Narendra Savoikar told the media here.

Savoikar did not say till when the rally has been postponed.

Parrikar was scheduled to participate in the rally from Dabolim International Airport in Vasco to Panaji -- a distance of around 40 km -- accompanied by supporters riding 9,000 two-wheelers.

He was also scheduled to address a public rally in Panaji.

Not only the opposition, but the BJP's alliance partners and civil society members also flayed the rally's timing, with some accusing the BJP of trying to derive "political mileage" from the army action across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

IANS