Meeting not part of ‘Mission Modi’, says BJP
TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Chief Mohan Bhagwat made a quite entry into Goa, triggering speculations whether the head of the Sangh Parivar was in the State as part of “mission Modi” to energize the cadre to gear up for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Speaker Rajendra Arlekar, BJP Goa Chief Vinay Tendulkar and senior BJP and RSS leaders had an in camera meeting with the RSS Chief at Raia on Monday morning. In fact, as many as 2-3 closed door meetings were arranged at the residence of RSS leader Kiran Nayak at Raia between the RSS Chief and leaders of the Sangh Parivar, including some industrialists. Another meeting was held at the conference hall of the Ravindra bhavan, Margao which was attended by RSS leaders from across the State.
Sources said that Bhagwat’s visit to Goa was kept a closely guarded secret. It was only after he landed at the Dabolim airport late Sunday night that the security agencies were alerted about his presence before his motorcade headed straight to Kiran Nayak’s residence at Raia.
While the Sangh Parivar maintained a veil of secrecy over Bhagwat’s visit and kept under wraps the deliberations with the RSS Chief, the visit triggered speculations as it comes against the backdrop of the RSS pushing in Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi as BJP’s candidate for the Prime Ministerial post. Sources said the RSS has been mobilising its cadre across the country in recent weeks and the Konkan coast, including Goa, was no exception.
It is against this backdrop, the RSS has been galvanising the cadre all over the country to gear up and work with full strength and vigour in support of Modi’s candidature.
The local BJP leadership, however, went in a denial mode that the RSS Chief was in Goa to garner support for Narendra Modi. Speaker Rajendra Arlekar, when contacted, confirmed that he was present at the meeting with Bhagwat, but made it clear that it was just a courtesy visit on the visiting RSS Chief. “Normally, the visit of the RSS Chief is planned well in advance. The visit had nothing to do with the Lok Sabha polls,” Arlekar said.
At the Ravindra Bhavan, RSS volunteers maintained a strict watch on the visitors outside as the in-camera meeting inside the conference hall lasted for around and an hour-and-half. He was welcomed at the Bhavan by Chairman Damu Naik, vice-Chairman Chandan Nayak in the presence of RSS Goa unit chief Subhash Velingkar.
