Months after being sacked as the State RSS chief and launching a sustained bitter attack on the BJP-led coalition Government in Goa, Subhash Velingkar, chief of the rebel Sangh, faction in the coastal State has hinted at a possible return to the original fold.

Velingkar also told The Pioneer, that the mission of his breakaway faction, the “Goa Prant RSS” to expose the Goa BJP’s misgovernance and betrayal of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s principles in the run-up to the State Assembly elections was successful and that it was time to re-unite with the parent RSS organisation as promised.

“The office-bearers will take a formal decision by March 3 or 4,” Velingkar said.

“As proud RSS sewayamsevaks we could not back the BJP after its betrayals on important issues. That would have amounted to trampling on RSS principles. We chose to fight for public good during the elections. That was our mission. Now that elections are over, we are preparing to join the parent fold,” he said, adding that none of the former RSS office-bearers were expecting to hold similar positions, once they are assimilated back into the original unit.

General Secretary of the Goa Prant RSS, Krishnaraj alias Raju Sukerkar said nearly 2,000 local volunteers and over 90 local office-bearers had joined the breakaway faction in August and a process was on to amalgamate the faction with the parent RSS.

“All the former RSS office bearers in Goa are being consulted. The process will be over in the next few days,” Sukerkar said.

Velingkar was sacked as the Goa vibhag pramukh of the RSS in August last year, following his constant criticism of the BJP-led government in Goa, especially Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, for what the rebel RSS leader claims, is the betrayal of a promise made to stop government grants to English medium primary schools, most of which are run by a Society operated by the influential Roman Catholic Church in Goa.

Velingkar has been sangha chalak of the Goa region for more than two decades, has been credited with grooming generations of state Sangh leaders and political activists, the most prominent of which Parrikar himself, laxmikant Parsekar, former speaker Rajendra Arlekar, etc.

The now former RSS chief is the co-convenor of the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch, which has been leading the attack against the BJP and Parrikar over the medium of instruction issue, which has been simmering for years now.

Two groups, Forum for Rights of Children to Education (FORCE) backed by the influential Roman Catholic Church and the Bharatiya Bh;asha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) supported by the RSS have been at loggerheads in Goa over the last few years, over the choice of language of instruction in junior schools.

While the former group backs English, the Velingkar-led faction prefers indigenous languages as an instructive medium in primary schools.

The Manch and Velingkar had also formed a political outfit called the Goa Suraksha Manch, which had contested the elections against the BJP, after aligning with the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.