BeyondHeadlines News Desk

New Delhi:  With Baba Ramdev insisting that his hunger strike against corruption will begin as scheduled on June, the government has decided to change its strategy. The new guidelines for senior ministers who are in touch with the yoga icon dictate that while talks will continue, they will be held on the government’s terms. That decision came after a meeting of the Congress core committee in Delhi this evening.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal has said he will meet Baba Ramdev tomorrow and the talks will continue. “As politicians we have to meet people. This should not be seen as weakness. If the government is serious and Ramdev is serious, there should be no problem in resolving the issue,” he said.

The government’s tougher stand – at least on paper – hopes to undo some of the damage done after four senior ministers, including Pranab Mukherjee greeted Ramdev at the Delhi Airport yesterday. It seemed to be an embarrassing attempt at appeasement, one that did not go down well with the Congress party.

The ministers spent more than two hours with the yoga icon at the airport lounge, reassuring him that the government is serious about tackling corruption with a series of measures including a tough new Lokpal Bill (Citizen’s Ombudsman Bill) which is scheduled to be presented in Parliament by the end of this month.