Leaders of Goa's breakaway RSS faction could return

Re-uniting with the RSS after the February 4 assembly elections was always on the cards said Subhash Velingkar.

Panaji, Feb 27: A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh faction in Goa that broke away from the parent party following differences with the BJP-led coalition government could return to the Sangh fold, a senior faction leader said on Monday.

Former Goa RSS Sanghachalak Subhash Velingkar said a formal decision on the matter will be taken by 90-odd office-bearers of the faction by March 3 or 4.

"Re-uniting with the RSS after the February 4 assembly elections was always on the cards," Velingkar told IANS.

The aim of forming the rebel RSS unit in Goa was to defeat the state's BJP government which, he claimed, had taken the Sangh's teachings for granted.

Velingkar was sacked by the RSS in August last year after he repeatedly accused Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and the Goa BJP of deviating from RSS teachings and betraying the cause of regional languages by allowing English medium primary schools -- most run by Goa's Roman Catholic Church -- to avail of financial grants.

Velingkar then formed a rebel Sangh outfit in Goa, which thousands of local volunteers and a majority of state RSS office-bearers joined.

Velingkar, co-convenor of Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch, has accused Parrikar and the state BJP of betrayal.

Velingkar and the Manch leadership also formed a new political party -- Goa Suraksha Manch -- which contested the February 4 elections in alliance with the Shiv Sena and one of Goa's oldest regional political party -- Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.

Velingkar said their rebellion had proved a point to the RSS top leadership and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

IANS