Even Shree Ram will have to spend money to get elected now: Former RSS Goa Chief

NP NEWS NETWORK 

Panaji

Former RSS Goa Chief Subhash Velingkar on Wednesday said that in the current political situation even Shree Ram would have to spend money to get elected.

Velingkar was addressing a youth convention of a political outfit Goa Suraksha Manch which is mentored by him, in Panaji.

[amazon_link asins=’B078124279′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’policenama100-21′ marketplace=’IN’ link_id=’1745ae92-c21e-11e8-b34f-b3d5dfb5975a’]

“During elections, the politicians are busy luring two kinds of people – youth and women – by offering them cash or gifts, whom they find to be gullible,” he said.

“Due to the rampant usage of money power during the election, in the current situation, even Shree Ram will not get elected if doesn’t spend money,” Velingkar added.

The former Sangh chief in Goa also attacked BJP for losing morality and indulging in the same practice that of other parties in the country. Velingkar also took on Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar over his decision to drop two ailing ministers.

“Parrikar drops two ministers from the cabinet because they are sick but he himself remains on his own position of CM despite being critically ill,” he commented.

Velingkar also took a dig at politicians for frequenting hospitals in the USA for the even minor ailment at the cost of the State exchequer.

“The situation is not right in Goa. They go to America for their treatment but we have to get treated at state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital.  They can remove others from the cabinet claiming that they are ailing but when they are critically ill, he retains his own position,” said Velingkar, who is credited for introducing Parrikar and Union AYUSH minister Shripad Naik in politics during their early days of career.

“I have been with Parrikar and Naik shripad naik during initial days of BJP and I have traveled with them entire Goa to introduce them to the people. They were taluka sangh chalakas when I had met them,” he said.

He recalled how the first ever Assembly election of BJP in Goa was against money power and how they could not find a candidate for the party in Panaji constituency due to which they had to ask Parrikar to contest despite from being neighboring Mapusa constituency.

Even when Parrikar and Naik ventured into politics, they had to fight with the money power. “It was difficult to build the party without money and it took ten years for us to do so. People had got a habit of accepting money,” he said.

“We could not get the candidate to contest the election from Panaji. That is when we decided to field Manohar Parrikar who was the new graduate from IIT and running his factory. But when we wanted to get him elected from Panaji, the question was how to fight back money power,” he said.

“What we did that time (first election of BJP in Goa in the 90s) was an experiment and we got four BJP MLAs elected,” he said.

“People used to call BJP as Bhaji Palo (vegetable) party.  Parrikar’s first address in Panaji was care of Subhash Velingkar when he got elected,” Velingkar recalled.

He claimed that Parrikar spent Rs 26,000 for his first election where he got elected, while rivals spent Rs 50 lakh.

“We never gave donations or distributed money to the voters. People showed that they have self-respect,” he said.

Velingkar alleged that BJP has lost its morality from the year 2012. “BJP was talking about zero tolerance towards corruption but show me, one minister, who does not make money,” he added.