Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on September 6, returned from the US two days ahead of schedule and headed for his private residence.

Parrikar, who is being treated abroad for advanced pancreatic cancer, had flown to the US on August 30, the third time in six months.

The Chief Minister arrived at the Dabolim International Airport around 5.30 p.m. and did not speak to the media gathered outside.

Parrikar’s early return coincides with murmurs about the possibility of some Congress MLAs joining the ruling party ranks. The Congress has however dismissed media reports to this effect and blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “fake news factory”.

Parrikar’s absence from Goa has attracted flak from the opposition that claims that governance has come to a standstill in the coastal state.