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Sena’s support to Velingkar over his stand on the language
issue was not for any political reasons but for saving the “cultural
identity”, he told reporters here today.
“We support the stand taken by Velingkar on the issue
of maintaining the age-old culture of a particular region. If like-minded
people come together for the cause, it would prove to be immensely beneficial
for the people of Goa,” Raut said.
Raut, who has been made in-charge of the Goa unit of Sena,
had a marathon meeting with Velingkar in the state yesterday.
“If Velingkar floats a new political outfit, we are
ready to take two steps and ally with his party… Velingkar should come
forward and lead the alliance of both the parties,” he said.
“This is not a question of politics, but of saving our
cultural identity,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Velingkar had announced his plans to float a new political
outfit, ahead of the Assembly polls in the coastal state to take forward the
cause of regional languages such as Konkani and Marathi as Medium of
Instruction (MOI) and against the state government’s policy of supporting
English medium schools.
Velingkar, an RSS veteran in Goa, was given the marching
orders on August 31 after Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM), of which he
is a convener, expressed its intention to contest the 2017 Assembly elections
against BJP.
While sacking Velingkar, RSS had stated that it was
“relieving” him of his responsibilities because “a Sangh leader
trying to enter into any political activity” was against the ethos of the
saffron fountainhead.
