Decoded: The real reason why Manohar Parrikar is back as Goa CM

Manohar Parrikar resigning as Union Defence Minister and returning as Goa chief minister may surprise many outsiders but not those from Goa. The tall politician never took the liking for Delhi and loved to come back home to enjoy Goan food which he didn’t get in the capital.

This is not the first time someone went to Delhi, got a plum ministry in union cabinet, but preferred to come back. Sharad Pawar was Defence Minister when he was sent back to head Maharashtra. But the difference between Pawar and Parrikar is that Pawar didn’t want to while Parrikar was yearning for it. Parrikar kept coming back to Goa during weekends and dabbled in state affairs, much to the discomfort of his successor Laxmikant Parsekar. When asked about it, Parrikar had an answer ready- check with my ministry officials and tell me if there is any decision pending my opinion. “If I am doing my job during the week, what’s the issue if I came to Panaji during weekends? This is my constituency, I am also responsible for my voters,” Parrikar told this correspondent during campaigning.

So what’s it that brings Parrikar back, leaving behind such important ministry as defence? “Parrikar loves to be given importance. In Delhi, he is just another minister in the cabinet. People who matter there are Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley after the larger than life persona of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Here in Panaji, Parrikar feels like he is the emperor…In Delhi he is just an insignificant courtier,” says a veteran journalist who has covered Goa politics for decades.

“Parrikar is not the one who is after money. He wants power, he wants people to follow him all around and catch every word of his mouth,” he adds. It is pertinent to note how Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, who had broken alliance with the BJP just before the assembly polls, almost immediately offered to support the government if it was led by Parrikar. In his interview with DNA, MGP’s Sudin Dhavlikar had lambasted Parsekar for being jealous of his popularity. He dare not say this for Parrikar who had kept the likes of Dhavlikar under his thumb.

Parrikar also managed to keep himself in good books of the politically active church in Goa, to the extent that the then Goa RSS chief Professor Suresh Velingkar remarked Parrikar was under some kind of a spell by the church. While his first stint as Goa CM was quite laudable, Parrikar will find it extremely difficult to run the ship this time around. The BJP had simple majority in 2012 and therefore parties like MGP were in check. Parrikar had also managed to get few Congress MLAs to break away and join the BJP bandwagon. Now he has only 13 of his own and must rely upon MGP and Goa Forward who have grown sharp fangs in the new political scenario.