Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikat, who has been unwell for some time over a pancreatic condition, inspected a half-constructed bridge on Mandovi river in Goa on Sunday.
This was the first time he has been seen in public since returning to the state on October 14 post hospitalisation in Delhi's AIIMS.
The photographs, some of which were issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), showed a gaunt-looking Parrikar, with medical appendage suspended from his nose and wearing a safety helmet, speaking to government officials and engineers who are overseeing the construction of the third bridge across the Mandovi river off Panaji.
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The bridge, which is expected to be completed next year, will connect Panaji to the rest of north Goa.
"Manohar Parrikar visited the construction site on the third Mandovi bridge and inspected the progress of work. Officials of GSIDC (Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation) and L&T engineers were present on the site to brief the CM. He later also inspected the ongoing work of the new Zuari bridge," a statement issued by the CMO said.
Parrikar is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi since February. He returned from New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences on October 14 and since then Sunday is the first instance when Parrikar moved out of his private residence for official purposes.
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The Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court last week reserved its judgement, after hearing a petition filed by a local politician Trajano D'Mello who has sought that the Court direct state Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma to have the former Defence Minister's health condition evaluated by a panel of expert doctors and release the medical report in the public domain.
The Chief Secretary has maintained that the petition was political in nature, while arguing for Parrikar's right to privacy.
The opposition Congress has been alleging that Parrikar's ailment and his absence from office had brought the coastal state's administration to a standstill.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said on Monday that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar should be allowed to deal with his illness without pressure and "tamasha" (spectacle).
"He has a tube inserted through is nose into his digestive tract. How inhuman to force him to continue working and doing photo ops. Why can't he be allowed to deal with his illness without all this pressure and tamasha?" the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said in a tweet.
Abdullah said it is "inhuman" to force Parrikar to continue working and doing "photo ops".
(With inputs from agencies)
