Amid speculation around his health, ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar chaired a meeting of the state Investment Promotion Board on Tuesday, 30 October, at his private residence near Panaji in Goa.
On Wednesday, Parrikar is expected to chair a meeting of the state cabinet, which would be the first such meeting after August.
Parrikar, who has not made a public appearance since his return from Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on 14 October, met the members of the board that included several cabinet ministers, industrialists and other officials at the meeting which lasted more than an hour.
A photograph released by the state Bharatiya Janata Party, showed a bare-footed Parrikar wearing his trademark half-sleeved shirt and dark blue trousers with other members of the board alongside him.
“The Chief Minister is in good health. He made positive suggestions during the Board meeting.”Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte after the meeting
Over the last couple of days, opposition Congress has demanded a video or photographic proof of the Chief Minister's well-being.
Parrikar, who is currently being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer, has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi.
His absence has created a leadership vacuum in Goa, even as the opposition has demanded that he step aside to focus on treatment.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)