Even Lord Ram Would Have To Spend Money To Get Elected: Former RSS Leader

Panaji: Former Goa RSS chief Subhash Velingkar claimed yesterday that even Lord Ram would have had to spend money to get elected in the current political situation. He said so while addressing a youth convention of the Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) which is mentored by him in Panaji.

"During elections, politicians are busy luring two kinds of people whom they find gullible - the youth and women - by offering them cash or gifts." he claimed.

Continuing his speech, he claimed that the use of money is so rampant in elections, "that in the current situation, even Shri Ram would not be able to get elected if he doesn't spend money."

Mr Velingkar had floated the Goa Suraksha Manch on the eve of the 2017 Goa Assembly elections, after he fell out with BJP leader Manohar Parrikar over the issue of medium of instruction in school education.

Mr Velingkar accused the BJP of "losing morality and indulging in the same practices like other parties in the country". He also attacked chief minister Manohar Parrikar over his decision to drop two ailing ministers from the state Cabinet.

"(Manohar) Parrikar dropped two ministers from the cabinet because they are sick but he himself remains stuck to his position despite being critically ill," he said. Mr Parrikar is currently admitted to AIIMS in Delhi for a pancreatic ailment.

The former Goa RSS chief also attacked politicians for frequenting hospitals in the US even for a minor cause at the cost of the state exchequer. "The situation is not right in Goa. Politicians go to US for treatment, but we have to get treated at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital. They can remove others from the cabinet claiming that they are ailing but when he (Parrikar) is critically ill, he retains his own position," said Mr Velingkar.

Subhash Velingkar, who was a political mentor of Manohar Parrikar and Ayush Minister Shripad Naik in their initial days, said the two had to fight money power when they entered politics.

"It was difficult to build the party without money and it took ten years for us to do so. People have got a habit of accepting money," he said.

"We could not get a candidate to contest the election from Panaji. That is when we decided to field Manohar Parrikar who was a new graduate from IIT and running his factory," he recalled.

He claimed that Mr Parrikar had spent Rs. 26,000 for his first election which he won while his rivals had spent Rs. 50 lakh.

"The BJP talks about zero tolerance towards corruption, but show me a single minister who does not make money," he added.