Goa Suraksha Manch, which was floated in the run-up to the 2017 State Assembly elections, gave a poor display of itself at the hustings, when its candidates failed to make any sort of mark. The party had been almost forgotten in the past months, but has reclaimed some space in the news with the entry of former RSS State chief Subhash Velingkar and his promise to contest the elections. The months ahead are going to be interesting politically, as GSM with Velingkar in its corner, could play a major role in upcoming parliamentary elections and Assembly by-elections, causing some concern to the BJP which is hoping to retain both the Lok Sabha seats from the State, that it won in 2014.
The reason why Velingkar’s entry into electoral politics can turn the tide is that though he has not been a BJP member, he has been a mentor to some of the politicians, including a close aide of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Till now, Velingkar has stayed away from electoral politics but now steps in, stating the time is right for him to join politics, and at a crucial period when Parrikar, who was once his friend and political buddy but who he later criticised for given grants to English medium primary schools, is ailing, can cause much discomfort to the BJP, as any inroads the Goa Suraksha Manch may make in the electorate would be at the cost of the BJP.
The former RSS State chief enters the political playing field at the request of the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) of which he has been a part, to take up issues like the mother tongue in elementary education, breaking the drug mafia nexus, saving Mhadei River and other issues plaguing the State. The main focus of the GSM, which is the political arm of the BBSM, would be making primary education in the mother tongue compulsory. As Velingkar has admitted, “GSM is a political arm of BBSM which we needed to strengthen if we want to take the things to a logical end.” Against this background, it is relevant to revisit the statements made by the party during the campaign to the last Assembly elections.
For the 2017 Assembly elections, GSM had aligned with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Shiv Sena, and it was Velingkar who, as convenor of the coordination committee of the combine, had announced that they would withdraw grants to English language primary schools if the alliance was voted to power. MGP, at that time hadn’t fully endorsed this statement, but spoken of finding a solution to the issue. GSM and BBSM have been fighting for the mother tongue as the medium of instruction in the primary section, and GSM came into being as a political party only because it did not agree with the BJP’s policy on the medium of instruction issue.
While he claims that he will take up any role that he is entrusted with, it is obvious that he will be pushed in the forefront of the movement. But then, Velingkar has always been the backroom boy – the strategist – who will now be leading from the front. It’s a different role, and is he prepared for it? He may be thrust into electoral politics very soon, as there is speculation that he may be the GSM candidate from Mandrem constituency, where there is a vacancy caused by the resignation of the Congress MLA Dayanand Sopte who has since joined BJP.
There’s a churning waiting to happen in Goan politics and a strengthened GSM adds to the woes that the BJP is already facing.
