Manohar Parrikar, a star in ascendant

PANAJI: Less than a month before he celebrates his 59th birthday on December 13, Goa chief minister ManoharParrikar has risen to his political zenith yet, by supposedly being handpicked to be Union defence minister.
Clearly, Parrikar’s star is in the ascendant. He single-handedly led the BJP to a clear win in Goa with 21 seats out of 40 in March 2012 assembly elections, and then secured both Lok Sabha seats for the party in May 2014 Lok Sabha polls.Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving him the defence portfolio should be Parrikar’s proudest political feat yet.
Parrikar has come a long way since he won his first assembly election from Panaji constituency in 1994. Since then, he has consecutively won from Panaji another four times – a feat never achieved in the capital city’s constituency before.
Often described as India’s first IIT-ian chief minister, Parrikar engineered his way into the Goa chief minister’s chair first in 2000. His party toppled the Francisco Sardinha-led government by withdrawing support to the government. But midway in his term, on February 27, 2002, he dissolved the assembly amid reports that a disparate band of party MLAs were plotting against him. His gamble paid off in the election in June 2002. The BJP became the single largest party and formed the government with support from smaller parties and an independent. Parrikar became chief minister again.
Instability rocked his government again on January 29, 2005, as five BJP MLAs resigned reducing his government to a minority. The assembly session in February, called to prove his majority, turned tumultuous with the forced eviction of deputy chief minister Felipe Neri Rodrigues from the House. Following an observer’s report, governor S C Jamir dismissed Parrikar’s government. The Congress won power in the bypoll that followed. In the 2007 Assembly elections, the Congress retained power defeating the BJP.
Parrikar’s comeback in March 2012 was spectacular. Just before the elections, he launched a personal mass contact programme through the Jan Sampark Yatra, travelling all over Goa and staying overnight at people’s homes. He also unleashed a media blitzkrieg against the Congress.
As chairman of the public accounts committee, his report detailed massive illegalities in Goa’s mining and claimed huge losses to the exchequer. He promised solutions—with target dates—to all long-festering problems in Goa: mining, regional plan, medium of instruction, casinos, Lokayukta, etc. The result – BJP won 21 out of 40 seats on its own. Alliance partners MGP and GVP won three and two seats, respectively. Plus, there were two supporting independents at Navelim and Velim.
Post-election, he fulfilled the promise of eliminating VAT on petrol. It effectively reduced petrol price in Goa by Rs 11 and won him national acclaim. But with many promises remaining unfulfilled, the opposition Congress and the local media have dubbed him a ‘U-turn chief minister’.
Parrikar’s political acumen has been sharp. In June 2013, he became the first senior BJP functionary to openly push for Modi as BJP’s “face” for the 2014 general elections. During the BJP’s two-day national executive in Goa, Parrikar said he was in constant touch with the common people who strongly favoured such a move.
When Modi became Prime Minister, Goa was the first state he visited in his official capacity. Modi lavished praise on Parrikar, stating his managerial abilities were the reason for his “success story”.