PANJIM: Accusing the BJP of losing morality, former RSS Goa chief Subhash Velingkar attacked Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar over his decision to drop two ailing ministers from the State cabinet.
“Parrikar dropped two ministers from the cabinet because they are sick but he himself remains stuck to his position despite being critically ill,” Velingkar said, addressing a youth convention of the Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM).
The former Goa RSS chief also attacked politicians for frequenting hospitals in the US even for a minor cause at the cost of the State exchequer. “The situation is not right in Goa. Politicians go to US for treatment, but we have to get treated at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital. They can remove others from the cabinet claiming that they are ailing but when he (Parrikar) is critically ill, he retains his own position,” Velingkar said.
Velingkar, who was a political mentor of Parrikar and Ayush Minister Shripad Naik in their initial days, said the two had to fight money power when they entered politics. “It was difficult to build the party without money and it took ten years for us to do so. People had got a habit of accepting money,” he said. “We could not get a candidate to contest the election from Panjim. That is when we decided to field Manohar Parrikar who was a new graduate from IIT and running his factory,” he recalled. He claimed Parrikar had spent Rs 26,000 for his first election which he won while his rivals had spent Rs 50 lakh.
“The BJP talks about zero-tolerance towards corruption, but show me a single minister who does not make money,” he added.
Velingkar further said the BJP was “losing morality and indulging in the same practices like other parties in the country”.
