Shiv Sena likens RSS rebel leader Subhash Velingkar to Lord Krishna

Panaji: Equating RSS rebel leader Subhash Velingkar to ‘Lord Krishna’, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday claimed that he will guide the non-BJP and non-Congress parties to victory in the Goa Assembly polls due next year. “The upcoming state Assembly election fight is like a final war in Mahabharata. BJP are ‘kauravas’ and others who are against them are ‘Pandavas’. Velingkar is Lord Krishna who will guide the non-BJP, non-Congress parties to success,” Goa Shiv Sena chief Sudip Tamankar said here. [caption id=“attachment_2986970” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A file image of Subhash Velingkar. PTI[/caption] The Sena on Tuesday submitted a formal seat-sharing proposal to the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM)-backed Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) party for the Goa polls. Tamankar said the battle lines are already drawn for the state elections. “Those who are with BJP are surely going to face defeat. Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), which has been aligning with BJP, will also face the same fate,” he said. Responding to a recent statement by MGP leader Sudin Dhavalikar claiming Shiv Sena in Goa as a party without base, Tamankar said he should make statements against other parties after snapping ties with BJP. “Dhavalikar earlier had the alliance with Congress before 2012 polls. During the current dispensation, he is with BJP. Dhavalikar has no ideology. They are just power hungry and are under the wrong impression that MGP has mass base,” he said. “If they really have a mass base, then they should contest independently during the upcoming polls and show their strength. Why are they depending on crutches of BJP?” Tamankar said. Velingkar had on Sunday floated the new GSM party in Goa and vowed to defeat the BJP in the coming Assembly polls. On 21 August, RSS had “relieved” Velingkar as Goa Vibhag Sangh Chalak, who then formed a parallel outfit called RSS Goa Prant. The BBSM has been agitating against the state government while demanding that mother tongue be made medium of instruction (MOI) and withdrawal of grants to English medium schools.