Heena Sharma Blog

There is a genuine sense of loss and sorrow at the passing of Manohar Parrikar , and not just among political classes. An extremely unassuming and dedicated man, he fought valiantly the pancreatic cancer that was devouring him and bore his immense suffering stoically, much the same way as Steve Jobs did. He continued to serve till the end. It takes the 'genius' of Rahul Gandhi to interpret this as a sign of Mr Parrikar blackmailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi because he, Parrikar, apparently had secret Rafale files showing Mr Modi's culpability. I was among a very small number of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, class of 1965, to have met and interacted with Mr Parrikar. I met him at Vadodara airport in December 2012. He was standing behind me in the line for security clearance. He could have easily skipped that as he was the chief minister of Goa then. As is now well-known, he never did that. My friend Karan Grover, the noted architect, who was Mr Parrik

Goa BJP president Vinay Tendulkar said there would be clarity on who would be the state's new chief minister by 2 pm Monday. Tendulkar said this after meeting Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari at a hotel near here over the issue. Hectic political activities are on in the coastal state to select the new chief minister after the death of chief minister Manohar Parrikar Sunday. "The decision on chief ministerial candidate is yet to be taken. But the picture will be clear by 2 pm," Tendulkar said, adding that the new chief minister would be sworn in after 3 pm Monday. Tendulkar met Gadkari along with Assembly Speaker Pramod Sawant, who is a contender for the top post. Earlier in the day, Gadkari met ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLAs led by Sudin Dhavalikar and BJP legislator Vishwajit Rane. Dhavalikar and Rane are also aspirants for the chief minister's post, BJP sources said. Sawant and Rane are front- runners, they added.

The audio clip featuring a purported conversation between a Goa Minister and an unidentified person about the Rafale deal is a "desperate attempt" by the Congress to fabricate facts and no such discussion had happened, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Wednesday. "The audio clip released by the Congress is a desperate attempt to fabricate facts after their lies were exposed by the Supreme Court verdict on Rafale. No such discussion ever came up during Cabinet or any other meeting," the former Defence Minister tweeted. Check LIVE Parliament debate on Rafale deal here Earlier on Wednesday, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala released an audio of a telephonic conversation allegedly between Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and another person, whose identity was kept anonymous, in which Rane is heard saying that Parrikar, at a Cabinet meeting, said that he had files related to the Rafale deal in the bedroom of his residence. Read Mor