Congress president found an unusual admirer in Goa
Deputy Speaker and BJP MLA Michael Lobo, who praised Gandhi a day after he called on chief minister Manohar Parrikar in the state assembly.
“Rahul Gandhi came on a special visit to greet our ailing CM Manohar Parrikar. His simplicity, humility has to be admired by all Indians and Goans. He is a very simple person and leaders like him are required in Goa and India,” Lobo said.
After meeting Parikkar, who is undergoing treatment for Pancreatic cancer, in his office Panaji on Tuesday, Rahul tweeted, “This morning I visited Goa CM, Manohar Parrikar, to wish him a speedy recovery. It was a personal visit,” Gandhi wrote on Twitter.
The meeting between Gandhi, on a private visit to Goa, and Parrikar, lasted about 10 minutes. It came a day after Gandhi referred to a purported audio tape in which a Goa minister claimed that Parrikar possessed files relating to the Rafale deal.
Gandhi was initially scheduled to visit Parrikar’s residence but by the time he landed in Goa, the chief minister had left for the assembly. Gandhi then drove to the assembly to meet Parrikar.
He was taken inside Parrikar’s office by state Congress chief, Girish Chodankar, and leader of the opposition in the Goa Assembly, Chandrakant Kavlekar.
Parrikar told the two Congress leaders that Gandhi had regularly enquired about his health whenever he was in hospital both in India and the United States.
Gandhi was also in constant touch with his son, the chief minister told Chodankar and Kavlekar, who later left the two leaders for a one-on-one interaction that lasted seven minutes.
