Goa Minister for Public Works, Sudin alias Ramkrishna Dhavalikar underwent a surgery at a Mumbai hospital and is recovering well, his brother Dr. Sandeep Dhavalikar said on Tuesday.
The family has not disclosed the nature of surgery, and appealed to the people to not speculate over his health. “We are sure that the blessings of the Goan people are with him and he is expected to be back to work in few days,” Dr. Dhavalikar said in a statement issued here on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, his brother and former Minister Deepak Dhavalikar had said that Sudin’s hospitalisation was only for examination purposes. "He will be back soon. There is nothing to worry," he said.
Mr. Dhavalikar, the main leader of the three-member regional outfit -- Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) -- an alliance partner of the BJP-led government in the State, has become the seventh sitting Goa legislator to be hospitalised in recent times.
Apart from Mr. Dhavalikar, Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar is still recuperating in a Mumbai hospital after suffering a brain stroke. The charge of his portfolio has been taken over by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who returned from the US last month after a nearly three-month-long treatment for pancreatitis-related ailments which have not been formally disclosed.
Others who took ill in recent months include senior BJP Minister Francis D'Souza (kidney-related ailment), BJP MLA from Vasco, Carlos Almeida (brain stroke), and Congress MLAs Isidore Fernandes (liver ailment) and former Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane (high fever).
