Goa BJP defended Manohar Parikkar against criticism that he was spending too much time in his state.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Goa unit today defended Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar over his frequent visits to the coastal state saying "would you not have come home, if you were Defence Minister".
"If you were made Defence Minister, would you not have come home? Would you have stayed back in Delhi?" BJP general secretary Sadanand Tanavade said.
He was responding to a question referring to Mr Parrikar's frequent visits to Goa against the backdrop of terrorist attack on an army base in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir.
The Goa Congress had recently accused Mr Parrikar of being a "part-time" minister, and said he was more interested in issues concerning the coastal state than matters related to national security.
"Congress needs to be more focused on its own party rather than Parrikar," Mr Tanavade told reporters in presence of state BJP chief Vinay Tendulkar. He alleged that Congress was adopting publicity gimmicks by resorting to verbal attack on Mr Parrikar to get media publicity.
"If you speak about defence minister or chief minister, you get quick media publicity. That is what Congress has been aiming at," he said.
Mr Tanavade said BJP has been monitoring the criticism through social media and found out that only one particular party was indulging in it.
"Majority of the people who respond or comment to this party's criticism through social media are not Goans," he said, refusing to name any political party.