B'day Special: Manohar Parrikar, Defence Minister of India

Manohar Parrikar is the Union Defence Minister, a senior BJP leader and Member of Parliament.He is known for his intellect. An ex-IITian, Manohar Parrikar has displayed his organizational and administrative skills. Austerity has always been the hallmark of Parrikar.This is one of the reasons why Narendra Modi wanted a senior and efficient person to relieve Arun Jaitley from his overburdened position. Parrikar's journey from IIT Bombay to Indian political landscape is quite an interesting one.Prior to his new responsibility in Narendra Modi's cabinet, Parrikar was serving as the Chief Minister of Goa.He is the first IIT graduate to become the Chief Minister. Parrikar is a technocrat, a taskmaster and a workaholic.He is known to be quite an informal person and is easily approachable.Let us know more about Manohar Parrikar on his 59th birthday:Manohar Parrikar was on born 13 December 1955 in a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin family at Mapusa, Goa.He studied at Loyola High School, one of the most reputed schools of his time. He completed his secondary education in Marathi and went on to graduate in metallurgical engineering from IIT Bombay in 1978.Parrikar joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at a young age and became a Chief instructor. After graduating from IIT, he resumed RSS work in Mapusa while maintaining a private business.He was active in the RSS's North Goa unit, becoming a key organiser of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.His political career started in the year 1994, when he became an MLA in the Goa Assembly. He was the leader of the opposition from June to November 1999.He became the Chief Minister of Goa for the first time on 24 October 2000, but his tenure lasted only till 27 February 2002. On 5 June 2002, he was re-elected and became the Chief Minister again.On January 29, 2005, his government was reduced to a minority in the assembly after four BJP MLAs resigned from the House.Pratapsinh Rane of Congress replaced him as Chief Minister. In 2007, the Parrikar-led BJP was defeated in the Goa state elections by the Indian National Congress led by Digambar Kamat.His party became victorious once again after the BJP and allies won 24 seats against Congress's 9 seats in the Goa Assembly Elections held in March 2012. BJP showed an impressive performance in 2014 General Elections and won both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa.Manohar Parrikar was reluctant to leave Goa and move to Delhi, by his own admission. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi had high regard for Parrikar's abilities and persuaded him to join the Central Government.He was sworn-in as Cabinet Minister for Defence in November 2014 in the first expansion of Modi's ministerial council, and his entry into the parliament was facilitated by choosing him as the party's candidate for elected Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.He was married to Medha Parrikar and the couple was blessed with two sons. He was married to Medha Parrikar and the couple was blessed with two sons. His family suffered a major loss when his wife Medha, in her early 40s, died of cancer in the fag end of year 1999. The tragedy came just about a month before his swearing-in as the first time chief minister of Goa.Parrikar, although shattered by the death of his wife, not only meticulously exercised powers as CM but also as a good family man.As a good father, Parrikar would take his sons to eat bhelpuri at Miramar beach in his private vehicle, monitor their studies, go on outing and take care of the entire family as well.His older son Utpal after completing engineering studies in Goa and advanced studies abroad settled here looking after the family business. Abhijat is currently pursuing management studies in the US.Even as a CM during his previous two tenures, the Panaji representative lived in his ancestral house at Mapusa, 13 kms from the capital.In the year 2001, he received his Distinguished Alumnus Award from his renowned institute.