Manohar Parrikar, Goa Chief Minister and former Defence Minister, who had been battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year, died at his home in Panaji on Sunday evening. He was 63. The announcement was made in a tweet by President Ram Nath Kovind, following which condolence messages poured in from political leaders across the spectrum.
“Extremely sorry to hear of the passing of Shri Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister of Goa, after an illness borne with fortitude and dignity. An epitome of integrity and dedication in public life, his service to the people of Goa and of India will not be forgotten,” President Kovind tweeted.
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Here are some lesser-known facts about Manohar Parrikar:
1. Manohar Parrikar was born on 13 December 1955 in Mapusa, Goa
His father was Gopalkrishna Parrikar and mother was Radhabai Parrikar.
2. Manohar Parrikar completed his schooling in Marathi medium from Loyola High School.
3. He graduated IIT-Bombay as a B.Tech Metallurgical Engineering and Material Sciences in 1978
He then established two factories in Goa producing hydraulic equipment.
4. He was a member of the RSS since his school days and continued to remain so till death.
5. Parrikar became a Sanghachalak (local RSS unit head) at age 26.
6. Parrikar married Medha Parrikar in 1981
The couple was blessed with two sons. Utpal is an Electrical Engineering graduate from Michigan State University and Abhijat is a local businessman.
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7. After joining BJP in 1988, Parrikar won from the Panaji assembly seat in Goa
By defeating Congress’ Keshav Laxmidhar in 1994 elections.
8. Parrikar thus became the first IIT-ian to become an elected MLA in India’s history.
9. From June to November 1999, Parrikar was leader of the opposition in the Goa assembly.
10. On 24 October 2000, Parrikar became the Chief Minister of Goa
Again, he was the first alumni of the IIT to become the CM of any state. Arvind Kejriwal is the second person to be so.
11. It was in 2000, just months before he took oath as CM, that his wife passed away
She also died away due to cancer.
12. He used to travel in his own scooty, own Innova and with bare minimum security in Goa.
13. In 2001, he was conferred the Distinguished Alumnus Award by IIT-Bombay.
14. His first government lasted till 27 February 2002 but he was re-elected on 5 June 2002
After some losses, his party again won the Goa elections in 2014.
15. In November 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi persuaded Parrikar to become the country’s Defence Minister
As Defence Minister, Parrikar took major decisions for the security of the country such as Rafale deal.
16. It was during his time as Defence Minister that India carried out two surgical strikes across the borders
The first was against Naga rebels in Myanmar and the second, more famous one, was the strike to avenge Uri attack.
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17. He was made the Chief Minister of Goa once again at the request of the coalition partners after BJP won the state in 2017 elections.
18. It was on 14 February 2018 when Parrikar was first admitted to the Goa Medical College after he complained of stomach pain.
19. He was eventually diagnosed of advanced pancreatic cancer and had been in and out of hospitals, including a treatment in the United States.
20. He appeared in the Goa assembly to present Budget and inspected government projects with a tube in his nose.
21. He was so simple that he used to walk wearing Kolhapuri chappals
When he was made the Defence Minister, he jokingly told a journalist whether he will be allowed to wear Kolhapuris.
Remember this #India 🇮🇳#ManoharParrikar
🙁 pic.twitter.com/KdVo6yuGwV— ashish (@thissisash) March 17, 2019
22. At IIT-Bombay, he studied in the same batch of which Nandan Nilekani and Jairam Ramesh were part.
23. Parrikar had in January 2019 said that he will serve Goa till his last breath
And he did so. Manohar Parrikar passed away on 17 March 2019 at the age of 63 years, due to advanced pancreatic cancer at his residence in Panaji.
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