Ailing Parrikar leaves for Delhi, to be admitted to AIIMS

A day after presenting the state Budget for 2019-20, ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on late Thursday evening left by a special aircraft for Delhi, where he will be admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for examination. "Chief Minister Shri @manoharparrikar will be travelling to New Delhi later today, for undergoing his medical review/checkup which was pending due to the inauguration of Atal Setu and state Legislative Assembly session," the Chief Minister's Office said in a tweet earlier on Thursday.

Parrikar, who left at around 7 p.m, is expected to return to Goa on Saturday, sources said. "Atal Setu", a cable-stayed bridge, was inaugurated in Parrikar's presence by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on January 27.

Parrikar, also a former Defence Minister, is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer which was diagnosed in February last year. He has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, Delhi and New York since then.

On Wednesday, while presenting the state Budget for 2019-20, he made a brief speech from his chair, even as he was strapped with medical paraphernalia.