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Parrikar: The loyalist who engineered BJP's rise in Goa

Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar, who has been designated as the 20th chief minister of Goa, is a leader with proven organisational skills. He is among the young partymen who struggled to build a strong base for the Bharatiya Janata Party and brought it to power for the first time in this tiny coastal state.

The 45-year-old Parrikar becomes chief minister directly without serving any government in the past. After entering active politics earlier this decade, his loyalty to the BJP remained unchanged despite state's political atmosphere, where defections are a way of life.

Born on December 13, 1955, he is known as an upright politician, whose personal popularity is high. He also has an in depth understanding of the problems and prospects of his small state. He and Shripad Naik, now Union minister of state for agriculture, were in the forefront of the BJP's efforts to expand its base and both of them quickly rose in party circles.

Parrikar, who is a metallurgical engineer, passed out from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He became a member of the state assembly for the first time in 1994, representing the Panaji constituency.

In last year's election, Parrikar retained the seat and became the leader of the Opposition in the state assembly when the Congress government, headed by Luizinho Faleiro, was in office.

As dissidence started brewing in the revolt led by Francisco Sardinha in November last year, he played a crucial role in forming a coalition with the breakway group - the Goa Peoples Congress - and his party to form a new government. However, he preferred to stay out of office.

During the last 11 months, Parrikar strongly defended some of the decisions taken by the coalition government but did not hesitate to criticise it whenever it did not show the required efforts, mainly in maintaining law and order and managing the financial affairs of the state.

A businessman by profession, he was closely associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh for long and later actively participated in the programmes organised by the BJP. At present, he is a national executive member of the BJP.

In the 1994 elections, the BJP had won only eight seats in the 40 member house but the subsequent election saw BJP's strength going up to ten.

Parrikar managed to motivate two splinter groups of the Congress to merge into the national party, taking the BJP's strength in the state assembly from 10 to 18.

UNI

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