PANAJI
The much anticipated formal entry into mainstream politics of former RSS Goa chief, Subhash Velingkar took shape at Porvorim on Sunday with Velingkar joining the Goa Suraksha Manch and launching a scathing attack on the government and his former protege Manohar Parrikar.
Addressing workers of the GSM at the Swami Vivekananda hall, Velingkar said the administration had come to a standstill and Parrikar was letting it happen by being selfish and not giving up the CM's post, despite his health condition.
Velingkar further said that politicians would have been stripped and paraded naked if the current political morass had happened in any other State like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Several prominent members of the Bharatiya Basha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) including former MLA and literateur Uday Bhembre, former IAS officer Arvind Bhatikar, Konkani writer Naguesh Karmali among others were present at the political event.
Velingkar's entry into formal politics could pose yet another headache for the ruling BJP, which has for months been struggling to cope with the leadership vacuum caused by the absence in action of CM Parrikar who is battling pancreatic cancer.
Velingkar headed the RSS in Goa for more than two decades. He is credited with mentoring the BJP in Goa including most of its top leaders like Parrikar, Union Ayush Minister Shripad Naik and former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
"The CM is taking treatment and does not have the courage to come and face the people," Velingkar said, adding that a midterm poll was inevitable along with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections due in the first half of next year.
Velingkar, who was sacked from the RSS after he launched a scathing public campaign against the BJP and Parrikar for betraying the Sangh principles ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections, is also being blamed for the BJP's poor show in the polls.
The GSM which he mentored, although did not win any seats, is said to be the reason for the ruling party's tally falling to 13.
Meanwhile, Velingkar blamed Parrikar for letting the situation slip into a state where the government has reached a complete shutdown due to his illness and holding on to over two dozen important portfolios.
Infighting, he said, has begun in the BJP-led coalition which includes the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party the Goa Forward and independent MLAs which would lead to its disintegration.
He also predicted the rise of a new leadership with the downfall of the BJP and the Congress in Goa.
