PANJIM: Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar may have been in a conciliatory mood on Thursday and even admitted the BJP worked with the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) in the 2012 elections, but the latter was not ready to mend bridges.
A belligerent BBSM tagged the saffron party as ‘father of all liars’ and clearly indicated that BJP could face the same fate Congress did in the 2012 Assembly elections.
BBSM’s bitter remark came a day after BJP took on State RSS Chief Subhash Velingkar over his statement that the party had backstabbed Goa on the Medium of Instruction (MoI) issue while also claiming that BJP had never partnered with BBSM on the issue in the previous elections.
“I pity his (South MP Narendra Sawaikar) poor IQ on the subject. He doesn’t know that BJP-MGP decided to contest the 2012 elections together. Manohar Parrikar (ex-CM and present Defence Minister), Laxmikant Parsekar (ex-State BJP Chief and present CM), Shripad Naik (North Goa MP) and MGP leader Ramkrishna Dhavalikar (cabinet minister) had walked to our office seeking our support on MoI. We did not go to them,” BBSM’s Uday Bhembre said on Thursday.
Mocking Sawaikar’s memory loss, Bhembre went on to add that BJP should not point fingers at others when the blame actually lies with them. “The foursome had assured us that they opposed Congress’ stand on giving grants to English medium primary schools to which we asked them to make a public statement, which they did. But we knew Parrikar would play smart by mentioning that government will come up with ‘amicable solution’. On coming to power, they failed to live up to their promise. So it would be better that they don’t blame anyone else,” he said.
Writer Pundalik Naik, also a BBSM member said, “Not all issues are election related. Sawaikar has lost his mental balance. BJP is the father of all liars.” Claiming there is a personal rift between Parrikar and Velingkar, Bhembre clarified that no BBSM member has targeted any BJP leader on the personal front. “The BJP is known to divert attention. It will face the same consequence that Congress faced in the 2012 Assembly elections,” he warned.
BBSM justified Velingkar’s absence at the media briefing stating he was conducting a rally at Sanguem to expose BJP’s lies.
BBSM also clarified that it was not a ‘silent supporter’ of BJP’s main ally MGP when questioned over its silence on the regional party’s stand on MoI. “In private, Sudin (Ramkrishna Dhavalikar) admits whatever happened was a mistake but I don’t know whether he will make his view public,” Bhembre said.
Asked whether the outfit’s statement that it has other options in the 2017 elections implies the MGP, the party nodded in agreement. He, however, added, “We will name and shame MGP because they are part of the government decision.”
