Goa RSS rebel Velingkar disbands breakaway faction

Former Goa RSS chief-turned-rebel Subhash Velingkar today announced "dissolution" of his "Goa Prant of RSS" which he had formed in run-up to state Assembly elections which were held last month.
He said the group was being disbanded as its purpose to "teach the BJP a lesson" has been served.
"We had separated from RSS' Konkan Prant only to avoid unnecessary political pressure which was being created in the run-up to the Assembly polls. We are dissolving the Goa Prant forthwith," Velingkar told reporters.
He said the decision to "dissolve" the unit, which has around 4000 members, has been taken unanimously.

"The cadres who were with us are now free to join RSS shakhas," Velingkar said.
Interestingly, the announcement was made ahead of the counting of votes, slated for March 11.

Velingkar's Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) was part of the alliance, also comprising the Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the Shiv Sena, that had contested the February 4 polls against the ruling BJP.
The RSS veteran, whose association with the outfit is about five-decade-old, was sacked as its Goa chief last September following his decision to field candidates against BJP.
He had been stridently opposing the grants being given by the state government to English medium schools and insisting the use of Konkani and Marathi as the medium of instruction (MoI) in elementary education, through a forum Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM).

"I don't regret splitting with RSS to form the Goa Prant as it was needed to teach a lesson to the BJP, which has been pressurising Sangh in various states.
"The aim behind forming the separate prant was to tell BJP that Sangh should not be taken for granted. Swayamsevakas (volunteers) in various states are facing the same kind of pressure from the BJP which we had faced in Goa," he alleged.
Velingkar, however, clarified that GSM and BBSM will continue their fight for using local languages as the MOI and for withdrawal of grants being given to English medium schools.

He said the "Goa Prant" cadres will henceforth work under the leadership of incumbent state RSS chief Laxman Behre.
On his future role, Velingkar had recently said he would like to work as an ordinary 'swayamsewak' without any post in parent RSS.
In official reaction of Sangh, Behre had said the RSS would welcome anybody to its fold.