Bang Galore
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2010
- Messages
- 10,685
- Reaction score
- 12
- Country
- Location
Parrikar, close enough to criticise riots and still have Modi’s trust
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar during a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday.
Written by Liz Mathew | New Delhi | Posted: November 7, 2014
A chief minister helping an elderly woman cross the street may be a rare sight in India, but it is quite a familiar one in Goa. Manohar Parrikkar does that often. Goans have also become familiar with seeing him drive to the market and park his car, or walk into a restaurant without security and pay the bill.
Alongside the unassuming nature, however, is also the image of an organised taskmaster, which will make BJP leaders wary now that Parrikkar is set to become Minister for Defence. Besides, he is so close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he could afford once to describe the Gujarat riots as bad, though he did defend Modi simultaneously.
BJP leaders say there is a lot about Parrikar, 58, that Modi likes — he is a technocrat with an RSS background, is quick with decisions, and has a reputation for not sharing much with his cabinet colleagues. For his part, Parrikar takes credit for having projected Modi as prime minister in the first place.
He was the first BJP chief minister who had publicly said Modi should be the face of the BJP in the elections. In a “Walk the Talk” programme with Shekhar Gupta in June 2013, Parrikar said, “If we delay it (pitch Modi as PM) any more, it will be too late. I didn’t do it earlier because I thought there was time for the party to decide but if they went from this executive without deciding, it would be another three months before they decide…”
In the same interview, he said the riots were an administrative failure but defended Modi citing his inexperience. “What happened was definitely bad. Being new, he probably did not know how to take a grip on the administration. Unluckily, with all the emotionally surcharged atmosphere that was created…(the situation) went out of control… Police down the line got polarised. The chief minister doesn’t direct the police constable.” Parrikar had added, “But after that, he has not displayed a single incident of non-governance.”
According to a senior BJP leader, Parrikkar’s candidness pleased Modi and “earned” his respect too. Rohan Khaunte, an independent MLA in Goa, referring to the chief minister’s closeness with Modi, once called him a “parallel prime minister”. It was this closeness that had triggered speculation that Parrikkar would be in Modi’s first cabinet as home minister.
Parrikar graduated in metallurgical engineering from IIT Bombay in 1978 and joined the BJP a decade later. A former RSS activist, he became chief minister in 2000. He is an avid reader and movie fan who enjoys fish and loves cricket. One union minister describes him as “a true Goan, nothing frustrates him”.
Parrikar, close enough to criticise riots and still have Modi’s trust | The Indian Express
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar during a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday.
Written by Liz Mathew | New Delhi | Posted: November 7, 2014
A chief minister helping an elderly woman cross the street may be a rare sight in India, but it is quite a familiar one in Goa. Manohar Parrikkar does that often. Goans have also become familiar with seeing him drive to the market and park his car, or walk into a restaurant without security and pay the bill.
Alongside the unassuming nature, however, is also the image of an organised taskmaster, which will make BJP leaders wary now that Parrikkar is set to become Minister for Defence. Besides, he is so close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he could afford once to describe the Gujarat riots as bad, though he did defend Modi simultaneously.
BJP leaders say there is a lot about Parrikar, 58, that Modi likes — he is a technocrat with an RSS background, is quick with decisions, and has a reputation for not sharing much with his cabinet colleagues. For his part, Parrikar takes credit for having projected Modi as prime minister in the first place.
He was the first BJP chief minister who had publicly said Modi should be the face of the BJP in the elections. In a “Walk the Talk” programme with Shekhar Gupta in June 2013, Parrikar said, “If we delay it (pitch Modi as PM) any more, it will be too late. I didn’t do it earlier because I thought there was time for the party to decide but if they went from this executive without deciding, it would be another three months before they decide…”
In the same interview, he said the riots were an administrative failure but defended Modi citing his inexperience. “What happened was definitely bad. Being new, he probably did not know how to take a grip on the administration. Unluckily, with all the emotionally surcharged atmosphere that was created…(the situation) went out of control… Police down the line got polarised. The chief minister doesn’t direct the police constable.” Parrikar had added, “But after that, he has not displayed a single incident of non-governance.”
According to a senior BJP leader, Parrikkar’s candidness pleased Modi and “earned” his respect too. Rohan Khaunte, an independent MLA in Goa, referring to the chief minister’s closeness with Modi, once called him a “parallel prime minister”. It was this closeness that had triggered speculation that Parrikkar would be in Modi’s first cabinet as home minister.
Parrikar graduated in metallurgical engineering from IIT Bombay in 1978 and joined the BJP a decade later. A former RSS activist, he became chief minister in 2000. He is an avid reader and movie fan who enjoys fish and loves cricket. One union minister describes him as “a true Goan, nothing frustrates him”.
Parrikar, close enough to criticise riots and still have Modi’s trust | The Indian Express