Manohar Parrikar to fly to US for treatment after 'health complications'

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is currently admitted to a private hospital in Mumbai, would fly to the US this evening for further medical treatment as he has developed "some complications", state Assembly Speaker Pramod Sawant said today.

Parrikar, 62, will be flying to the US at 5 pm, Sawant told reporters here.

"Some complications have developed due to which Parrikar is going to the US for treatment. His condition is stable and we need not worry," he said.

Sawant said the chief minister is expected to be back in Goa within a week.

The chief minister underwent treatment in the US for three months earlier this year for a pancreatic ailment and returned in June. He went there again for a follow-up earlier this month.

He was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai for a review health checkup on August 23, a day after he returned from the US, and was scheduled to return to Goa today.

A senior official in the Chief Minister's Office said this morning that Parrikar will leave for the US from Mumbai in a flight later today.

"The official charge of the post of chief minister will remain with him (Parrikar). There is no need to hand over the charge to anyone," he said.

BJP's Goa spokesman Siddharth Kuncolienkar said Parrikar developed some indigestion problem while travelling and that is why he is going to the US.

"He will go to the US, consult doctors and will return soon. I believe he will be there for a short stay," he said.

Union AYUSH minister Shripad Naik said BJP Goa unit chief Vinay Tendulkar will meet Parrikar at the Mumbai-based hospital to get some clarity on who would be holding the charge of the state in his absence.

"It is the chief minister's prerogative and there is no clarity on who would hold the charge in his absence. Vinay Tendulkar will be going to Mumbai to meet Parrikar and only after that we will get clarity on it," Naik said.

He said Parrikar's condition is stable and he is flying to the US for "medical advice".

Parrikar had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on August 7 and sought his intervention to address the current crisis in the state's mining sector.