Ramdev propped up by communal, political forces: Congress

New Delhi: Terming yoga guru Baba Ramdev a person propped up by "communal and political forces rejected by the electorate", the Congress party Sunday decided to hold public meetings all over the country to explain the "motive and designs" of those forces.

The decision was taken at a one-hour high-level meeting of the Congress, presided over by party chief Sonia Gandhi and attended by several ministers and in-charges of state units.

Briefing the media after the meeting, Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said: "There are certain forces in the country which do not adhere to the democratic and constitutional system."

He said these forces had tried to come to power through other means, whenever they were rejected by the voters.

"These poltiical and communal forces are trying to create an anarchic situation in the country," he added.

Asked whether the meeting discussed the crackdown on Ramdev, Dwivedi said the yoga guru is propped by "these forces".

Dwivedi said the Congress will hold meetings "from village level to national level to explain the policy and programmes of the party" and to explain the current polticial situation.

"We will expose the motives and designs" of these communal and political forces, he said.

Dwivedi said the meeting was held to review the recent "happenings in the country", especially in Delhi.

The Indian government Sunday was battling a major onslaught from the opposition and civil society Sunday after ordering a midnight crackdown on Ramdev, who hardened his stand against corruption after being forcibly evicted from the capital amid chaos.

A defiant Ramdev, who began an indefinite hunger strike Saturday morning at Delhi's Ramlila ground, vowed to continue his protest after being sent back to his ashram at Hardwar.

From political parties of the Left to Right to Bollywood twitterati, there was bitter criticism of the vicious police action on Ramdev and his army of supporters that left 100 men and women in hospital, many critically injured.

To register his own protest against the way Ramdev was treated, Gandhian activist Anna Hazre announced a day's hunger strike here June 8 and said he and his colleagues would boycott Monday's meeting of a panel meant to draft a Lokpal Bill to check corruption in high places.
 

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