For Digvijay, Ramdev is a thug

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh’s had let go off the acerbic flavour of his tongue when it came to address dreaded Al-Qaeda terrorist bin Laden as Ladenji but the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister had no qualms in calling Baba Ramdev a ‘thug’.

“He is nothing but a ‘thug’ and he has got what he deserved,” Singh told reporters, leaving everyone wondering why his Government had sent four Ministers at the airport to engage the yoga guru in dialogue and had agreed to meet nearly all of his demands on black money and dealing with corruption.

For last several days, Digvijay Singh, who is seen as the voice of 10 Janpath, has engaged in vitriolic attack on the yoga guru and had even hinted that Ramdev could be arrested. The fact that the Congress never cared to restrain him left no one in doubt that Digvijay enjoyed the backing of the party leadership in his anti-Ramdev crusade. By fielding Digvijay Singh, who has tried to don the mantle of a “secular” messiah, the Congress was also trying to give the Ramdev agitation “communal” colour.

On Sunday, Singh as at his vitriolic best. Singh justified the midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdev’s fast, accused him of “inciting people” despite striking a deal with the Government for ending his protest, and termed the yoga guru as a “fraud”.

Demanding an inquiry into the “thousands of crores of rupees” of property owned by Ramdev, Singh sought a probe into tax evasion by Ramdev under the garb of the Income Tax exemption granted to his business of manufacturing Ayurvedic medicine.

Singh claimed that party had no role in the midnight swoop, a claim contradicted by Kapil Sibal.

“Congress has nothing to do with this (action). It has been done by the local administration,” Singh said.

Sibal said there was no difference between the Government and the party over the action.

Donning his secular hat, Singh said he went into RSS-bashing and said that Ramdev’s fast was an out-and-out RSS affair. “From day one, it was inspired and engineered by the RSS which wanted to divert the attention of the people from its terror activities that have come to light,” he said.

Singh said the Government had earlier “compromised its position” as it wanted to dissuade the yoga guru from undertaking the “unnecessary fast” and had therefore sent its senior Ministers including Pranab Mukherjee to him.

Using language that did not behove a senior leader, Singh said this “thug” has cheated everyone, and went on to insinuate Baba’s hand behind disappearance of several of his mentors and followers. “From 1994 to 2011, whatever this fraud has done, there should be a thorough probe,” Singh said.

Justifying the police action, Singh claimed whatever action has been taken by the local administration was in the interest of the people. “Delhi is country’s capital. You cannot allow Ramdev to run riot in Delhi. He took the Ramlila maidan to carry out a yogic shivir. There was no yoga. He (utilised it) to agitate to incite people,” he said.

Reacting to Digvijay Singh charges, Baba Ramdev told reporters in Haridwar that he would not comment baseless charges leveled by an irresponsible person.

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