Panaji, October 29: Is Manohar Parrikar dead? According to the Congress, the Goa chief minister may have died. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, rebutted the claim about the death of Manohar Parrikar and said the statement was a result of Congress's frustration. The ruling party further accused the Congress of lowering the political discourse.

Speaking to media, Congress spokesperson Jitendra Deshprabhu said that the BJP and the BJP-led coalition government should prove to the people of Goa that Parrikar was alive. "Yes, we are taking that call. It is an extreme call that the honourable Chief Minister may not be there at all," he told reporters. The chief minister has not been seen in public since October 14. BJP Pressurising Parrikar to Resume Office: Former Goa RSS Chief.

Manohar Parrikar has not made any public appearance since his discharge from Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on October 14. He is currently bedridden at his private residence, which party sources said has been converted into a sophisticated medical facility, with doctors and para-medical staff on 24-hour duty.

Reacting to the Congress's claim, Goa BJP General Secretary Sadanand Shet Tanavade said that "Deshprabhu must be frustrated if he is making statements like this", as reported by news agency IANS. Last week, the Goa government, for the first time, admitted that Parrikar was suffering from pancreatic cancer.

"He is the CM of Goa and the fact is that he is not well. He has got pancreatic cancer. There is no hiding of this fact," the state health minister Vishwajit Rane told reporters. The Goa BJP and the state government had been refusing to disclose Parrikar's ailment for months.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 29, 2018 08:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).