Manohar Parrikar
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Life and times
Life and times of Manohar Parrikar, March 18, 2019: The Times of India
December 13, 1955 | Born to Parra native, Gaud Saraswat Brahmin middle-class couple Gopalkrishna and Radhabai of Mapusa in North Goa
R S S prant pracharak D Nadkarni is a major influence on young Parrikar, who is made ‘mukhya shikshak’ while preparing for IIT
1973 | Joins IIT Bombay, R S S gives him charge of the Powai hostel unit of the Sangh
1978 | Graduates as BTech in metallurgical engineering, resumes work for R S S in Mapusa where he also sets up a business
June 2, 1979 | Manohar Parrikar marries Medha Kotnis in Mumbai
They have two sons—Utpal and Abhijat
1981 | Becomes R S S Mapusa unit sanghchalak
Parrikar on his R S S background: Learnt “discipline, progressiveness, gender equality, equality of all before the law, nationalism and social responsibility from the R S S”
1988 | Sangh deputes him to BJP to make the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party irrelevant
June 1991 | Makes electoral debut, contests Lok Sabha polls from North Goa constituency, loses to Congress candidate Harish Zantye
November 1994 | Wins Panaji seat, BJP debuts in Goa assembly with four members
Considered No. 13, his birth date, lucky. His vehicle number, while he was in office, was 1313
2000 | Just months before Parrikar is to take up the CM’s post, he loses his wife to cancer
October 24, 2000 | Becomes the first IITian CM
2001 | Awarded Distinguished Alumnus Award by IIT Bombay, announces cyberage scheme, where for the first time in the country, free computers are provided to higher secondary school students
February 27, 2002 | Dissolves state assembly
June 5, 2002'"" | Re-elected CM for second time
2004 | Gets Iffi to Goa, raises infra in record time
March 2, 2005 | His government is reduced to a minority after four BJP legislators resign
Even as CM, Parrikar lived in his ancestral house at Mapusa, 13km from Panaji
September 2009 | Parrikar in an infamous interview compares BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani to “a rancid and ageing pickle whose political innings was more or less over”
March 2012 | Elected CM after BJP gets 21 seats in 40-member House, announces popular schemes like Griha Aadhar and Laadli Laxmi
September 2012 | Suspends mining operations after Shah Commission report alleges multi-crore scam
January 2013 | Becomes first BJP CM to openly endorse Narendra Modi’s candidature for PM. Also hosts BJP national executive in Panaji, where Modi is announced as campaign committee chief and in effect the PM candidate
November 2014 | Handpicked by PM Modi as defence minister, moves to New Delhi
November 2014 | Elected to Rajya Sabha from UP
September 26, 2016 | Carries out surgical strikes across LoC after Pakistani terrorists killed 19 soldiers at Uri on September 18, 2016
March 2017 | Resigns as defence minister, sworn in as Goa CM for fourth time
February 2018 | Diagnosed with a pancreatic ailment
March 17, 2019 | Passed away
The man
From: Marcus Mergulhao, The aam aadmi: Half-sleeved shirt, sandals & scooter rides, March 18, 2019: The Times of India
Manohar Parrikar was the original aam aadmi who rose to become chief minister. His identity in politics, at least for those beyond the state’s borders, was firmly established as a man who wore half-sleeved shirts for any occasion, even his son’s wedding. A man who wore sandals wherever he went, even to Parliament, and who had no problem hopping on to the back of a two-wheeler.
The sight of Parrikar riding pillion on a bike being driven by Caetano Silva, later elected MLA of Benaulim constituency, was published in all major newspapers and websites in the country. On a high during campaigning for the assembly elections in 2012, Parrikar would hop from one constituency to another, and wherever roads were narrow, a motorcycle would remain his best bet.
In Panaji, from where he was first elected in 1994 and a seat he retained till his death, his commonness was there for all to see. He would have a chat with the local ‘poder’ (breadman), lend his ear to the fisherwomen and even ride a bicycle for fun. For many, Parrikar was one of their own.
Despite being elected CM for four terms, he remained aam for many. During Parrikar’s first stint in office, he was stopped in the middle of the night by local policemen who demanded to know why he was out so late. According to reports in local newspapers at that time, the policemen on nakabandi duty didn’t recognise the CM. Not their fault. Someone moving without the red beacon atop his official car, without a police van ahead of him, and seated in the front seat could not be CM. This was a ‘common man’, and deserved to be questioned!
Policemen — whose boss Parrikar was as home minister — were not the only ones taken in. Security guards are known to have stopped him while he was entering a famous five-star hotel on the outskirts of Panaji. A guard stopped Parrikar for a routine security check, like everyone else, after he stepped inside without his police escort. A ‘hurt’ Parrikar returned to his vehicle, summoned the lone police security officer and let it be known to the guard he was the CM. “My ego was hurt,” he admitted during the official function at the hotel, which was attended, among others, by the owner. The poor security guard was worried for his job, but Parrikar said he was not to be blamed.
At weddings, engagements and parties, Parrikar never sought special preference. He stood in queues to wish couples at weddings, never hesitated to wait for his turn in line while casting his vote, even as the country’s defence minister, and always travelled economy class. He carried his own bags, too.
In Goa, it was always easy to spot the IIT graduate. You could find Parrikar inside little-known government offices where he would pursue a file, or at a local hotel you could be seated next to the table where he would be enjoying pao bhaji and mirchi pakora. Many have seen him eating a fruit platter at a rustic roadside stall in Mapusa and gorging on bhajias during official events.
c.1978: breaking the IIT mess strike
Yogita Rao, How Parrikar ended IIT mess strike with a ladle, March 18, 2019: The Times of India
As the mess secretary of hostel 4 in IIT-Bombay, Manohar Parrikar was very strict with students and even the mess workers in those days. The Goa chief minister’s hostel mate and friend Bakul Desai, who was four years junior to him, remembers how he fined himself when his relative plucked a flower from the hostel compound one day.
Desai, who is based in Hyderabad, said that Parrikar was a stickler for accounts. “His accounts were very neat. His only focus as the mess secretary was to bring down the bills for us,” said Desai.When Desai reached the IIT-B hostel for the first time in 1978, Parrikar saved him from being ragged by seniors and that’s how they became friends.
“Mess workers decided to go on a flash strike one day during our lunch time. Parrikar decided to get into the kitchen with 40 of us and cooked for the entire hostel. It was the best meal ever. The workers returned to their work immediately after that,” said Desai.
Political profile: 2017
Manohar Parrikar returns as Goa Chief Minister for third time, Mar 14, 2017, The Times of India
The Supreme Court refused to stay the oath-taking of BJP's chief minister candidate Manohar Parrikar and ordered a floor test to be held in the Goa Legislative Assembly on Thursday. Parrikar has been Goa's chief minister twice before and has been credited with strengthening the BJP in the coastal state.
Back as Goa Chief Minister
Manohar Prabhu Parrikar will take oath as 13th chief minister of Goa on March 14, 2017. He quit as the defence minister of India, a post he had been holding since November 2014 after first reshuffle of the Narendra Modi Cabinet. At the time, he was serving his second term as the Chief Minister of Goa.
Handpicked for central role
Parrikar, 61, was handpicked by PM Modi for the coveted defence portfolio at the Centre because of his administrative and organisational skills. He has been deputed back to revive BJP's fortunes in Goa, a state which the party has been ruling since 2012. Parrikar will replace incumbent incumbent chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
Handling border skirmishes
Parrikar's term as the Defence Minister was marked by a continued period of tension on the India-Pak border, following a string of Pakistan-backed terrorist strikes and ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir. He also presided over the forces' surgical strikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), and their punitive response to ceasefire violations.
Overseeing Indo-US defence ties
Parrikar has also overseen a fundamental shift in the military relationship between India and the US, with the signing of a pact that gives both countries access to each others' military facilities for logistical purposes.
MMRCA project cleared
Parrikar steered the Defence Ministry through a string of high-profile acquisitions of weaponry, many of which had been in limbo for years. Among these was the long-delayed MMRCA project which was resolved with the purchase agreement for 36 Dassault Rafale fighter jets.
From IIT-Bombay to Goa CM
Parrikar has been a member of the R-S-S since a young age, and is an alumnus of the IIT-Bombay. His first term as Goa Chief Minister was from 2000 to 2005 and his second term began in 2012.
