New Delhi, August 13: Senior politicians Nitin Gadkari and Sharad Yadav loaned VIP presence this morning to yoga guru Baba Ramdev's protest camp in Delhi, organised as a war-cry against corruption and unrecovered black money or undeclared income stashed by Indians in foreign bank accounts. Mr Gadkari is the President of the BJP; Mr Yadav heads the JD(U). Together, the parties run Bihar and are senior partners of the national NDA coalition.
"Those who fight against black money...should they be persecuted? Is it a crime to fight this corruption?" asked Mr Gadkari, addressing the audience.
In Parliament, just a short distance away, the Lok Sabha was adjourned after Mr Gadkari's party noisily demanded that the government explain what it is doing to recover black money. The BJP therefore took ownership of the issue at two different venues.
Over the last few days, Baba Ramdev has delivered respectable-size audiences at Ramlila Maidan, but the momentum and the scale have been lacklustre compared to his camp organised last year at the same venue. That's empowered the government to ignore Baba Ramdev, offering him no assurances or talks about his main cause - the recovery of black money or undeclared income deposited by Indians in foreign bank accounts.
The low profile of his camp this year instigated Baba Ramdev to phone Mr Gadkari and request his presence at the Ramlila Maidan. Earlier this morning, Baba Ramdev promised the start of a "big revolution" today, including a "peaceful march towards Parliament", which is in session, to highlight his anti-corruption campaign. Police sources have said they will not allow the yoga teacher and his supporters to reach Parliament.
"We are not terrorists. We never wanted to take this step to go and protest outside Parliament; however it is the government's apathy which has forced us. We will follow the principles of non-violence and expect the police also not to use force against us," Baba Ramdev said this morning.
The police plan to allow the protesters to cover a short distance from their base camp at Ramlila Maidan; if they insist on continuing their proposed march, they will be arrested. In June last year, police action at the Ramlila Maidan at the yoga guru's protest had resulted in clashes and the death of a Baba Ramdev supporter. With Independence Day also coming up, the police are taking no chances with security arrangements.
A stadium in the capital is being prepared by the Delhi Police to act as a makeshift jail where Baba Ramdev and his supporters will be put in case they insist on continuing their protest march, the sources said.
The yoga teacher targeted the Congress yesterday, asking people to vote out parties which did not support his demands on black money and corruption.
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