Parrikar has not made a single public appearance since his return from Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences on October 14.
Panaji: The Congress on Monday claimed that ailing Goa chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who has not made any public appearance since October 14, may be no more, drawing an immediate rebuttal from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"Yes, we are taking that call. It is an extreme call that the chief minister may not be there at all," Congress spokesperson Jitendra Deshprabhu told the media here.
Parrikar has not made a single public appearance since his return from Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences on October 14 and is currently bedridden at his private residence, which sources from within the party state has been converted into a sophisticated medical facility, with doctors and para-medical staff on 24-hour duty.
The Congress alleged that a coterie of officials around the chief minister was "illegally" taking decisions in his "absence".
On October 27, soon after health minister Vishwajit Rane for the first time officially revealed that Parrikar was suffering from pancreatic cancer, the chief minister's office said that Parrikar was expected to hold a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday at his private residence.
Deshprabhu told reporters that the BJP and the BJP-led coalition should prove to the people of Goa that Parrikar was alive, while blaming the media for downplaying the intensity of the chief minister's ongoing ailment.
Responding to this, Goa BJP general secretary Sadanand Shet Tanavade said, "Deshprabhu must be frustrated if he is making statements like this."
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