PANJIM: The differences between the BJP and the senior leadership of the RSS have widened almost to the point of no return. Perhaps for the first time in the Goa’s history the parent organisation and its political party have seen an immense chasm, ostensibly over the BJP’s policy on Medium of Instruction, but the real reason lies in a direct conflict between the Sanghchalak of the RSS in Goa Subhash Velingkar, who has clearly overreached his role of an arbitrator, who presides over and guides disputes within the organisation, to an active player in the decision making of BJP’s political affairs.
According to senior RSS sources who were present during the meeting between BJP’s state leadership which included the Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar (and where incidentally Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar chose to be present too), the state BJP has asked for Velingkar’s removal as the head of the RSS organisation in Goa. This is an extremely significant given the stature of Velingkar and the fact that he was the undisputed decision maker in both the party and the RSS organisation in Goa for over five decades.
Velingkar’s continuous outburst against the BJP leadership and his direct attacks on former chief minister Parrikar has stunned the BJP top brass which have now asked party president Amit Shah to intervene. The seriousness of the BJP RSS fallout can be gauged from the fact that the State BJP, instead of raising Velingkar conduct with the RSS leadership of the Konkan region under which Goa falls (in the geography of the RSS organisation which doesn’t follow State boundaries), raised it not just with the national President but with the National General Secretary (organisation) of the BJP, a senior RSS functionary deputed to the party organisation.
Velingkar is the face of not just the RSS but the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) and has ensured that there is no dividing line between the two. The BBSM, which is openly attacking the BJP government for not withdrawing grants to English medium schools, both in letter and spirit, is nothing but an avatar of the RSS. The root of the conflict does not lie in the government’s medium of instruction policy but on the issue of who will be charge of the party and the organisation.
“Velingkar had assumed his unchallenged supremacy in BJP’s affairs since he has been with the Sangh since the 1960s and was in the thick of things when senior BJP leaders like Parrikar and Shripad Naik moved to the BJP,” said a senior RSS functionary who is an important figure in the BJP organisation.
According to him, when Parrikar moved to the centre, Velingkar felt that his word would be final in the BJP. He was, however, snubbed when inspite of his opposition, Siddharth Kunkolienkar was fielded as the BJP candidate from Panjim. Not used to being over ruled as since he played a part in deciding on cabinet berths portfolios and even seats, this snub was too much to take and this is when he stated falling out with Parrikar.
The BJP is anxious to set its house in order but without Velingkar in the fray. It also has to take into confidence other RSS senior leaders like Sanjay Walavalkar, the karyawaha from Mapusa, and Ratnakar Lele since it has done the unthinkable by demanding the removal of the RSS Sanghchalak or head, in Goa. This won’t be easy because RSS leaders like Lele too are with Velingkar and the BBSM.
Lele said at a recent press conference, “The RSS has participated in the MoI issue after taking a formal resolution in March last year and Velingkar represents all of us in the BBSM as a co-ordinator.”
Lele even reacted to South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar asking Velingkar to leave the organisation and fight elections if he wanted to wear a political hat. He said, “He will join active politics, provided RSS tells him.”
The divide between the RSS (or at least its senior most leader) and the BJP has reached a point of no return in Goa.
