Goa Chief Minister, Manohar Parikkar has been ailing for a while now and it was perhaps only a matter of time before his body would give up the fight. Parikkar, four times chief minister of Goa – an otherwise politically unstable state succeeded in bringing political stability which is the basis for development. A technocrat of IIT-Mumbai, Parikkar was one of those rare politicians who was not self seeking at all. He was described as the real “common man” who chose to live an austere life. Parikkar started his career as a RSS sanchalak and was only later seconded to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to take on political work. Naturally despite his personal virtues as a politician he was often guided by party ideology and would not tolerate people who expressed dissent with that of the BJP.
Parikkar was India’s Defence Minister in 2014-17 when Pakistan funded Islamist mercenaries attacked Uri in Kashmir. He later supervised along with the Prime Minister the surgical strikes by the Indian Air Force into Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) to avenge Uri and Pathankot. Parikkar was most at home in Goa where he felt he has greater chances of delivering governance in the state. However, he had to take on the role of Defence Minister to relieve the burden from Arun Jaitley who was also the Finance Minister then.
It is uncommon to find a politician who would do away with security paraphernalia whenever he travelled. There are accounts of him driving a Maruti 800 to the airport and dispensing of all VIP frills and checking in at airports like an ordinary passenger. This is a trait that is missing in the politicians of India today. The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) states that India has about 20,000 individuals in states provided security by 50,000 personnel. In comparison, France has 109 VIPs, Japan 125, Germany 142, US 252 and UK just 84. Mr Parikkar was seen arriving in a taxi to attend an event at a Mumbai Hotel. “Whenever he was invited to attend a private function he would travel economy and handle his own baggage at airports,” says senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai. Even his manner of dressing shows that he identifies with the ordinary voter. This model conduct by one politician who truly understands the meaning of public service will be missed in a country that believes in flaunting the VIP card. We can only hope that other young Goans and youth of this country follow in his footsteps.