BJP leaves Goa open for Parrikar
“Let us cross the bridge when it comes,” Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said on Friday, as he parried questions on his possible return as Chief Minister of Goa if BJP wins the Assembly polls, a day after Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s remarks on the issue set off speculation.
“I can only say that let us cross the bridge when it comes. (Nitin) Gadkariji has said what we wanted to say,” Parrikar told reporters here when asked whether he will be back in the state as Chief Minister after Goa polls.
Parrikar made the remarks when he accompanied BJP candidate Siddharth Kuncolienkar for filing his nomination papers from Panaji constituency.
The constituency was earlier represented by Parrikar, a former Chief Minister, till he was elevated to the Central cabinet after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Gadkari, while addressing a press conference here on Thursday, had said that the next Chief Minister would be decided in a democratic way by the elected representatives.
“This leader can either be from the elected representatives or we can even send (someone) from the Centre,” he had told the media here, setting off intense political speculation.
Parrikar and his Cabinet colleague Sripad Naik hail from the coastal state, but despite repeated queries, Gadkari had on Thursday declined to reveal if he was hinting at one of them.
Naik on his part said he was willing to head a government in his home state if the party asked him to do so.
“I have not asked for it. Also, Manohar Parrikar has not asked for it,” the AYUSH minister said.