Manohar Parrikar desperate to return to Goa: RSS rebel Velingkar

Panaji: Sharpening his attack on Manohar Parrikar, RSS rebel and Goa Suraksha Manch founder Subhash Velingkar on Thursday said the Defence Minister is desperate to be back in Goa, amid speculations of his possible return as Chief Minister if BJP secures a fresh mandate in February 4 polls.

Velingkar, whose outfit is fighting the polls in alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantk Party (MGP) and Shiv Sena, also accused the RSS leadership of turning a blind eye to 'misdeeds' of Parrikar, even as he affirmed that he still stood by the basic "principles of the Sangh."

The prime target of the MGP-led alliance, though not officially declared, is the BJP dispensation in Panaji, and its architects believe that the combine could poach into the saffron party's vote bank in the state.

Last year, the RSS "relieved" Velingkar of his responsibilities in the organisation after he launched a fierce attack on the BJP leadership and accusing state government of reneging on promises like giving primacy to regional languages like Konkani and Marathi in education.

"Parrikar has been failing in Delhi in his job as the Defence Minister. Now, he is desperate to return to Goa as CM," Velingkar told PTI in an interview here.

"Parrikar is acting as a part-time Defence minister. All political and administrative reins of Goa are in his hands," he claimed.

The regional language crusader, who floated GSM ahead of the polls, also charged Parrikar with "playing against the national and cultural sentiments of Goan people," saying he had gone back on stopping state grants to English-medium schools.

Velingkar-led Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch has been agitating against the state government while demanding mother tongue be made medium of instruction (MOI) and withdrawal of grants to English medium schools.

"While he was the Opposition leader in Goa, in one of his marathon speeches in the assembly, which lasted 100 minutes, Parrikar had said that if the grant to English medium schools continues, Goan culture will be destroyed within five years. We have the CD of that speech with us and are showing it to voters," Velingkar said.

"We are showing what this person has done. Parrikar is now famous in Goa as a U-Turn Person," he said.

He claimed that the RSS leadership is "protecting" Parrikar despite being aware of hi follies.

"Sangh principles are as they are. It is the system which is not performing the role. We belong to the Sangh principles, which have formed our character," he said.