March 17 marks the death anniversary of Manohar Parrikar, former Defence Minister and four-time Chief Minister of Goa. Manohar Parrikar, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2019, was one of the most popular leaders to have emerged from the coastal state of Goa. Born on December 13, 1955, Parrikar was a devoted worker of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological backbone of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On Manohar Parrikar's first death, here are facts about the "son of Goa".

  • Manohar Parrikar was known as the first IIT graduate to have been elected as a legislator in a state assembly. He completed graduation from the coveted Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, in 1978.

  • Parrikar joined the BJP on the direction of RSS. He was appointed as the sarsanghchalak (head director) of Mapusa district at a young age of 26.

  • Parrikar was first elected to the Goa assembly from Panji constituency in 1994. Despite being a first-timer, he was nominated for the Leader of Opposition post by the BJP.

  • By the next assembly election, Manohar Parrikar emerged as the tallest leader in state politics and eventually became the Chief Minister of Goa in 2000 for the first time.

  • His first stint as Goa Chief Minister lasted only until 27 February 2002, when fresh elections were necessitated.

  • On June 5, 2002, Parrikar was re-elected as Chief Minister. His tenure, this time, lasted for three years.

  • On 29 January 2005, the BJP government, headed by Parrikar, lost majority in the assembly after four party MLAs resigned from the House. Congress's Pratapsing Rane subsequently replaced Parrikar as Chief Minister.

  • In 2007, the Parrikar-led BJP was defeated in the Goa state elections by the Congress and Digambar Kamat became the Chief Minister.

  • In 2012, the BJP, under the leadership of Parrikar, returned to power in Goa and he became Chief Minister for the third time.

  • In 2014, when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, Parrikar was requested to join his cabinet. As per Parrikar's own account, he was reluctant to leave Goa for Delhi.

  • Parrikar was persuaded by Modi to head the Union Defence Ministry in "larger public interest".

  • It was during Parrikar's tenure, in September 2016, when the Indian Army marched into the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and carried out surgical strikes to avenge the killing of 19 soldiers in the Uri terror attack.

  • In 2017 when Goa threw a fractured mandate, regional parties offered BJP their support on condition Parrikar be made the Chief Minister.

  • Consequently, Parrikar returned to the state politics and took oath as Goa Chief Minister for the fourth time.

Parrikar once again couldn't complete a full five-year term. He died on March 17 last year. When Parrikar died, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as an "exceptional administrator" and a "true patriot".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 17, 2020 07:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).