Shiv Sena will ally with ousted Goa RSS chief if he floats new party: Raut

Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Monday said his party is ready to join hands with ousted RSS Goa chief Subhash Velingkar if he launches a political party to contest the Goa Assembly polls scheduled early next year.

Sena's support to Velingkar over his stand on the language issue was not for any political reasons but for saving the "cultural identity", he told reporters here today.

"We support the stand taken by Velingkar on the issue of maintaining the age-old culture of a particular region. If like-minded people come together for the cause, it would prove to be immensely beneficial for the people of Goa," Raut said.

Raut, who has been made in-charge of the Goa unit of Sena, had a marathon meeting with Velingkar in the state yesterday.

"If Velingkar floats a new political outfit, we are ready to take two steps and ally with his party... Velingkar should come forward and lead the alliance of both the parties," he said.

"This is not a question of politics, but of saving our cultural identity," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Velingkar had announced his plans to float a new political outfit, ahead of the Assembly polls in the coastal state to take forward the cause of regional languages such as Konkani and Marathi as Medium of Instruction (MOI) and against the state government's policy of supporting English medium schools.

Velingkar, an RSS veteran in Goa, was given the marching orders on August 31 after Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM), of which he is a convener, expressed its intention to contest the 2017 Assembly elections against BJP.

While sacking Velingkar, RSS had stated that it was "relieving" him of his responsibilities because "a Sangh leader trying to enter into any political activity" was against the ethos of the saffron fountainhead.