Defiant Velingkar forms new RSS unit in Goa with cadre support

In a defiant move, which could put the RSS top brass in a spot, members of the Sangh in Goa on Thursday announced the formation of a new state unit of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and appointed Subhash Velingkar as its new state Sangh Chalak.

The move comes a day after Velingkar, one of the tallest Sangh leaders in the coastal state, was removed from as Sangh Chalak of the Goa division on Wednesday, following which over 400 workers of the Goa RSS, including all the office bearers resigned from their positions late on Wednesday.

"Before Wednesday, Goa functioned under the Konkan prant in the RSS hierarchy. After the mass resignations on Wednesday, we have formed a new organisational set-up in the state, which will function independent of the Konkan region," Velingkar said, adding that the move was made in order to ensure that there was no vacuum in the functioning of the organisation.

All RSS members and office bearers who had resigned from their respective positions on Wednesday, have backed the formation of the new outfit, Velingkar said.

When asked if the formation of the new RSS state unit had been endorsed by the RSS headquarters in Nagpur, Velingkar said that the Goa unit would report to Nagpur and take instructions from the High Command, only after the upcoming state assembly elections.

"We do not need approval now. We will report (after the electionS). Instructions do not apply when it comes to matters of conscience. How can instructions be against conscience? And if instructions are contrary to conscience, then it will not apply to the Goa RSS region," Velingkar said.

On Wednesday, at a meeting near Panaji, called hours after an RSS spokesperson announced the removal of Velingkar as the state RSS chief, over 400 RSS volunteers lambasted the state BJP leadership, especially Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and former organising secretary of the BJP Satish Dhond for allegedly conspiring to sack Velingkar.

Velingkar, a Goa sangh chalak for over 20 years, is credited with politically grooming top BJP leaders including Parrikar and Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.

When asked if he was worried about censures by the RSS top brass over the formation of the new Goa unit without their sanction, Velingkar said: "Let them say, that they are dissociating from this unit. No problem. We will still function. This is not rebellion... Conscience is our guru, not people.... For us, working for RSS is like breathing. You cannot take a break. RSS work is not subject to approval from the government... We do not call this a rebellion," Velingkar said.

--IANS

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