BJP blasts Velingkar, disowns BBSM, claims RSS stand different on MoI
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 06 April 2016 20:15 IST
The Bharatiya Janata Party has blasted Subhash Velingkar, Goa chief of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, while also posing questions about his ‘political behaviour’ on the Medium of Instruction issue.
“If he wants to make the MoI issue an election issue, then Velingkar should quit RSS and contest election”, suggested Adv Narendra Savoikar, the BJP spokesman and South Goa MP.
Velingkar, from the platform of the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch, had yesterday announced of having built parallel machinery in 38 constituencies to defeat the BJP in the next election.
He had also alleged that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, as Goa’s chief minister, had backstabbed the people by going against the election promise of withdrawing government grants to the Church-run English primary schools.
“We never promised to withdraw grants. Our manifesto had promised to find an amicable solution on the MoI issue and our party government has fulfilled it”, claimed Savoikar.
According to him, this is the best possible solution anybody could provide, where no grants are released to a single English medium private primary school after BJP came to power.
“I really don’t understand why such a seniormost person of our Sangh Parivar has to take such extreme political stand on the issue”, says the South Goa MP.
He also claims that the RSS is neither with Velingkar nor with the BBSM.
“On the contrary”, he claimed, “many RSS cadres are complaining to us that Velingkar was dragging the Swayamsevaks into this issue unnecessarily.”
Instead, he feels, Velingkar should have gone through the internal grievance mechanism which is in place in the Parivar.
goanews.com asked Savoikar whether Velingkar is taking some individual-level issue to political level if he (Savoikar) finds no reason for him to take such extreme steps.
To this, he said, it appears to him that some individual issue, which he is unaware of, might have been made political by Velingkar.
He also informed that BJP leaders are talking to the RSS about the MoI issue and the stand BJP government has taken of continuing government grants to the Church-run English primary schools.
BJP never aligned with BBSM
Savoikar made yet another revelation that the ruling BJP was never part of the BBSM, even when it was in the opposition.
“The party officially never participated in any action with the BBSM, the individuals participated”, he claimed.
According to him, the party stand is always made clear through its election manifesto, which had promised the electorate to find amicable solution on MoI and not a promise to withdraw grants of Church-run schools.
The party organisation today also urged its party government to withdraw the MoI-related bill it has presented in the Assembly.
But was it not the BJP who presented the bill of legalising grants to Church-run English primary schools?
“May be at that moment our party leaders felt that such an amendment was required to the Goa Education Act. But today we feel that such a bill is not required”, said Savoikar.
He feels that the party has fulfilled its election promise by giving special packages to the private primary schools in Konkani and Marathi medium and no new English school is given grants.
Excellent Adv. Sawaiker. Thanks for accepting that Mr. Parrikar was wrong in participating in BBSM agitation in 2011-12. The 14 MLAs who supported bandh called by BBSM did so in their personal capacity.
Just wondering what were these folks fighting for? Getting grants to the Church run schools :-) ?