‘He Has a Tube Through His Nose’: Omar Abdullah Objects to ‘Tamasha’ Around Parrikar’s Latest Photos

Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar should be allowed to deal with his illness without pressure and tamasha (spectacle), National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said on Monday. Abdullah's comment came after photographs on Sunday showed Parrikar inspecting a bridge under construction on the Mandovi river in Panaji on Sunday.

The chief minister, who is suffering from a pancreatic ailment, is seen with a tube inserted through his nose, giving instructions to engineers of the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation and contracting firm Larsen and Toubro.

Abdullah said it is "inhuman" to force Parrikar to continue working and doing "photo ops".

"He has a tube inserted through his nose into his digestive tract. How inhuman to force him to continue working and doing photo ops. Why can't he be allowed to deal with his illness without all this pressure and tamasha?" the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said in a tweet.

Parrikar, 63, was seen in public for the first time since returning to the state on October 14 post hospitalisation in Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Apart from reviewing the work happening on the Mandovi river, the chief minister also inspected the work on a bridge over the Zuari river near Agassaim village, around 15 km from the capital Panaji.

Parrikar has been recuperating at his private residence near Panaji since October 14. Sunday was the first time he moved out of the house, officials said.

A senior functionary at the Chief Minister's Office on Sunday said Parrikar travelled from Porvorim to Merces to inspect the bridge, the third over the Mandovi river. The opposition Congress has been alleging that Parrikar's ailment and his absence from office had brought the coastal state's administration to a standstill.

(With PTI inputs)