Parrikar not to return to Goa, fly to US again for treatment tonight

Panaji, Aug 29: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is currently admitted at a private hospital in Mumbai, would fly to the US tonight for further medical treatment, his office said on Wednesday.

Parrikar, 62, underwent treatment in the US for three months earlier this year for a pancreatic ailment and returned in June. He went there again for a follow-up earlier this month.

He was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai for a review health checkup on August 23, a day after he returned from the US, and was scheduled to return to Goa on Wednesday.

However, a senior official in the Chief Minister's Office said Parrikar will leave for USA from Mumbai in a flight tonight. The official refused to divulge any further details about the chief minister's health.

He said, "The official charge of the post of chief minister will remain with him (Parrikar). There is no need to hand over the charge to anyone."

Parrikar had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on August 7 and sought his intervention to address the current crisis in the state's mining sector.

PTI