BeyondHeadlines

Tag: black money

  • Ramdev’s Close Aide Acharya Balkrishna Reportedly Goes Missing

    BeyondHeadlines  Staff Reporter

    New Delhi: Fresh controversy has surfaced concerning Baba Ramdev’s aide, who allegedly signed the deal with the government. Acharya Balkrishna, considered Baba’s right-hand man, has been missing since June 4 — the day the government made the deal public, reported Times Now.

    Bal Krishna Maharaj with Swami Ramdev at Ramlila Maidan

    Sources said that Ramdev’s camp had made a commitment to call off the strike by 4 pm on Saturday and when it did not happen, the government had to then categorically tell him that they were going to release the letter.

    The government also said Ramdev was making fresh demands everyday and many of the issues he raised later were not in the communication send to the government.

    Meanwhile, Congress has accused Balkrishna of being a Nepalese criminal, who has forged an Indian passport.

    Party general secretary Digvijay Singh said, “Balkrishna Acharya, who is seen alongside Ramdev, is a citizen of Nepal and a criminal who sought asylum in India. There should be an inquiry into how he managed to get an Indian passport.”

    Meanwhile, Baba Ramdev said, “Some people are tainting Balkrishna’s reputation without any real proof. Balkrishna is safe and busy with a mission. The Central government is more interested in destroying me than in developing the nation. So something has to be done to protect some people, right?”

    Ramdev had earlier alleged that the government was pressurizing him to sign the letter but he did not do so and asked the general secretary (Acharya Balkrishna) to do so.

     

  • Shanti Bhushan Writes Letter to Pranab; Questions Govt’s Intentions

    Shanti Bhushan Writes Letter to Pranab; Questions Govt’s Intentions

    M Reyaz   BeyondHeadlines

    Shanti Bhushan, Co-chairman of the Joint Drafting Committee of the Lok Pal Bill, has written a letter to Union Minister and Chairman of the drafting committee Pranab Mukharjee questioning government’s intentions on the proposed Lokpal Bill and police action at Ramlila ground on Saturday night.

    Civil Society members of the Joint-Committee on the Lokpal Drafting Committee (Courtesy: The Hindu)

    The letter dated June 6, a copy of which is available to BeyondHeadlines, question government’s “divergence even on the vision and model of the Lopal.”

    He also questioned the “frivolous manner” in which the responses of the state chief ministers and public parties were sought. He also accused the government of “shying away from any kind of public debate” and reiterated his demand for “televised live” debate on all issues concerning the said Lokpal.

    He further “raised doubts… (on) whether the government was at all serious in dealing with corruption and having a strong Lokpal Bill.”

    He has further written that the events of last Saturday night “strengthened our doubts” over the “high handed and brutal manner in which the grounds were evacuated shows that the government was committed to crush the people raising their voice against corruption.”

    He has accused the government of assaulting “helpless and unarmed people, who were protesting against corruption.”

    He also conveyed the decisions of the members of the “civil society” for not attending today’s meeting and assured that by tomorrow they will send a list of issues and has requested the government to “make government’s views public on these issues.

    The next meeting was scheduled for June 10, but he has also requested for rescheduling it due to some engagements of Anna Hazare.

     

  • BJP Leaders Meet President Patil on Ramdev Issue

    BJP Leaders Meet President Patil on Ramdev Issue

    BeyondHeadlines Staff Reporter

    Courtesy: NDTV

    New Delhi: After staging a 24-hour-long sit-in at Rajghat, senior leaders Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) moved to meet President Pratibha Patil this morning about the action taken by the government against yoga guru Baba Ramdev and the 65,000 followers who attended his fast against ‘corruption’ on June 4.

    “The image of this government is that of the most corrupt government in Independent India,” said Advani after his session with the president.  His party has asked the president to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the crisis that has arisen from the confrontation between the government on one hand and civil society activists including Baba Ramdev on the other. Advani said that he suggested to the president that a “joint parliamentary committee be set up to explore issues of corruption.”

    On late Saturday night, Baba Ramdev was evicted from his camp on the grounds that it was meant to be a yoga training session for 5000 people and not a political demonstration.  The Baba tried to escape from the police by disguising himself as a woman but was caught while walking towards the railway station.  The police teargassed and lathicharged the crowd that had gathered at his camp.

    The action has been decried by activists and opposition parties as a “murder of democracy.” Advani has compared it to the atrocities committed by the British at Jallianwala Bagh.

    He was one of the BJP leaders who spent last night at Rajghat which houses Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial.   His colleague, Sushma Swaraj, was seen dancing during the BJP demonstration.  The cheery atmosphere results from knowing that the government has been cornered through what many describe as grossly inept mismanagement of the Ramdev crisis.

    When the Baba announced his fast and flew into Delhi early last week, four senior ministers rushed to the airport to receive him.  “Even Barack Obama did not get this sort of reception,” Advani wryly observed.  Through last week, extensive negotiations continued with the government trying its best to convince the Baba that his hunger fast was not necessary because it was addressing the To-Do list he had presented to the government.  Many items on that list instruct the government on how to tackle black money stashed in foreign accounts by Indians.

    On Friday evening, after a five-hour-long meeting at a five-star hotel, the government and the Baba reportedly reached an agreement.  The Baba said he would hold a token fast just for a few hours on Saturday in exchange for the plan of action on black money that was handed to him by senior ministers.

    But on Saturday evening, when the Baba did not announce that he was ending his hunger strike, the fragile peace ended and the government decided that the Ramdev camp had to be dismantled.  The Baba was flown back to Uttarakhand on Sunday morning; he has been banned from re-entering Delhi for the next 15 days.

     

  • BJP Announces Support to Ramdev’s Fight Against ‘Black Money, Corruption’

    BJP Announces Support to Ramdev’s Fight Against ‘Black Money, Corruption’

    BeyondHeadlines Staff Reporter

    New Delhi: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), India’s main opposition party in Parliament, today announced its support to Baba Ramdev in his “fight against black money and corruption.” The BJP on said that it was not a fight of one party or one individual but the fight of the nation.

    Courtesy: The Hindu/PTI

    Addressing BJP workers at the 24-hour ‘satyagraha’ site at Rajghat here in the national capital, BJP President Nitin Gadkari said he has spoken to Ramdev, who has resumed his agitation against corruption.

    “I spoke to Baba Ramdev this morning. He has resumed his fast. We are with the people who fight against corruption. This is a fight to save democracy and it is not a fight of one party or individual but the fight of the nation,” he said.

    Senior BJP leader L K Advani said the BJP had earlier also raised the issue of black money and will continue to support those who fight against the menace.

    Thanking the media for highlighting the issue of black money stashed away in foreign banks, Advani said a movement against black money would not have grown to this level without the media highlighting it.

    Ajay Arya, one of the disciples of Baba Ramdev, who was injured in both the legs in the police crackdown yesterday, was at the satyagraha site for a few minutes and deplored the police action on a “peaceful protest”.

    Wishing for speedy recovery of Arya, Gadkari said the black money stashed away in foreign banks should be brought back to the country.

    Arya said, “The time has come for ‘Ram Rajya’ and it is time for the UPA government to go. It reminds me of Jallianwala Bagh as people were beaten up mercilessly.”

  • Ramdev Resumes Fast in Haridwar

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: After not being allowed by the Uttar Pradesh Government to continue protest against black money following his eviction Delhi’s Ramlila Ground, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev today resumed his fast at his own place Patanjali Yog Peeth at Haridwar in Uttrakhand. He accused the Delhi Police of lying on the action taken at the Ramlila Maidan late on the night of June 4.

    “The Delhi Police is lying now,” Ramdev said while rubbishing the claims of the Delhi police. He alleged that the stage at Delhi was set on fire thrice and his supporters got hurt while trying to put the fire off. He also claimed that the police lathicharged people who were trying to put out the fire.

    Delhi Police, however, on Sunday denied lathicharge and said that Ramdev got hurt because he tried to run away. Special Commissioner (Law and Order) Dharmendra Kumar denied that police had used batons on protestors but admitted that teargas shells were lobbed to disperse them after being attacked with bricks, flower pots and sticks.

    He also said that there is a mistrust among the nation and questioned, “If gatherings against corruption are unlawful then Gandhiji’s Satyagraha was also wrong.”
    He claimed to have been receiving support from all across the nation and said that people have kept markets closed in support of his cause.

  • Centre Starts Probing Ramdev’s Multi-Crore Empire for Tax Violations, Ingredients Used in Medicines

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: Tightening the rope around yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s neck, the central government has started probing the yoga guru’s multi-crore empire for tax violations relating to more than 200 companies he and his associates are linked to, the ownership of his ashram at Hardwar and use of unrecognized substances in his medicines, a national English daily reported today.

    In documents made available, it has been claimed that the plot of land on which Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogapeeth is located is subject to restricted land transfer clauses. The land cannot be sold, registered or transferred except to “mahants” as it was the property of the “Udaseen Akhara”.

    The akhara was represented by Mahant Rajendra Das and after his death should have been passed to the next Mahant, Mahendra Das, but was instead sold to Bal Krishna, a close aide of Ramdev. This, sources in the government said, was illegal as papers show the ownership of Mahant Mahendra Das.

    The land was incorrectly registered in the name of Bal Krishna and Patanjali Yogapeeth and is being challenged in court.

    Product formulations of Patanjali Ayurved with regard to Amla Churan and Shilajeet Rasayan have been rejected on the grounds that either the substance appeared to be a new drug or was not included on a list required by government regulators. The medicinal products of Ramdev’s ashram have been previously attacked by CPM leader Brinda Karat on the grounds that the so-called herbal concoctions had animal parts.

    More than 200 firms are seen linked to interests ranging from ayurvedic medicine , construction companies, food parks, broadcasting firms, agriculture products, perfumes, healthcare, bio-research and infrastructure. These firms are now likely to be investigated for cross-holdings and possible irregularities in their finances and tax declarations.

    Now that the government has fallen out with the yoga guru with few prospects of reconciliation in the near future, he and associates like Bal Krishna are sure to face some searching questions from tax authorities.

  • Vrindavan’s Swami Balendu Writes Open Letter to Swami Ramdev

    Dear Baba Ramdev,

    You are a yoga teacher. I give you credit for making yoga popular in India. I admire you for building this business empire of Yoga and Ayurveda of billions of rupees in such a short time. You really have very good business skills. You are a businessman. If you want to be a politician, you can surely be a good politician too. However, it often seems to me you have some hidden agenda that nobody is supposed to know about. You are a multi-faceted personality, and it seems you are hiding something many times. I am not the only one who feels this.

    The Indian population, also those who admire you and who are looking for someone to raise his voice against corruption, get confused. What it you actually want is, they ask. Let me explain you how you create this confusion.

    When you talk about black money and bringing money back from foreign countries to India, people love it. Who would not want to see their country prosper? Doubt is created though, when we hear that you yourself have property in foreign countries. It is opposite to the aim that you say you want to achieve.

    You want to stop poverty in our country by bringing money back, so why don’t you set an example and contribute yourself with the billions worth of property that you have collected abroad? Why don’t you give a big part of the profits of your enormous corporation to educating people, building schools, paying doctors in hospitals to give free treatments to poor and feed the hungry? I have even heard that the hospital you built is too expensive for normal Indian people to afford.

    You would probably tell me now that you actually do charity, that you give yoga classes for free and in this way help people. I however will not really accept this as charity. In the past, when you were a yoga teacher and businessman only, your yoga camps always cost an entrance fee. It was never for free and it was just fine. People paid and got to learn yoga from you. When you started your own political party and started travelling throughout India for making it more popular, your camps suddenly were fully for free! So people could come for free, learn yoga and right away sign up as members for your party and hear some political lectures, too. And then you claim you are helping people with free classes! You are not only helping people, you are helping yourself, too! Ratan Tata sells cars and helps people to come from one spot to the other but in the end this helps him because he increases his wealth. You, Ramdev, do the same thing, so don’t tell that you help people for free! You are doing advertisement and in the end look for your own benefit!

    It is actually really very much your political career that confuses people. In the beginning, many were simply enthusiastic. Of course, you talked a lot about stopping corruption and first of all blamed the Congress party for corruption. Who does not want to remove corruption from the Indian political system? The Congress government has disappointed whole India with all those scams and corruption which was brought to light. The party to whom you donate money however, are facing charges of corruption, too! The chief minister of Karnataka, Yeddyurappa, is not the only one, there are investigations running against another 10 ministers of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh because of corruption.

    In Uttarakhand, the state that you are in, the ruling party is currently the BJP. Agitated by your talk about the corruption in the Congress party, the Congress Members of Parliament and the Congress Members of the Assembly of Uttarakhand, asked the state government for investigations into your own funds and asked another question: what happened to your Guru Shankar Dev? I read in Hindi newspapers and saw in TV interviews how they asked for more clarity. He had been living in the Ashram and one day simply vanished. You are still there, in the same Ashram, living and working. At that point however the BJP chief minister of Uttarakhand decided that no investigation against Baba Ramdev would take place. I understand that. When someone asked for an RTI proof, it showed that you have given big donations to the BJP and they would not want to risk losing them.

    The point is that people could even accept it if you said you supported the BJP. They don’t understand however why you talk against corruption openly and then hide your support for that party. How should anybody trust or understand who you really are?

    The Congress leader Digvijay Singh even asked you whether the money that you accept as donations is really white money. Are you 100% sure that your whole empire is built on white money? What is your answer to his question?

    Some months ago I read in a newspaper about Ratan Tata who had been asked a bribe for getting a license for an airline company and only revealed that now. The next day I read your statement that you were also asked millions of Rupees bribes for your Ashram. We know you like publicity and being seen in TVs and in newspapers. So you thought it would be a good idea to follow the example of Ratan Tata and give a similar statement. And just like him you did not expose that person’s name who asked you to give them money. I understand Mr. Tata, who has an enormous enterprise and whose fortune depends also on the approval of several people with high positions in the country.

    What about you, why did you not reveal a name? You are showing yourself as a Baba, a Sanyasi, living in truth and honesty and without material attachment. So what is your explanation why you don’t tell the truth? You should not mind the consequences for business as you are not attached to material belongings! Or, if you do mind it, don’t call yourself Sanyasi! Instead, you report with much pride how big your corporation is and how many thousands crore Rupees it is worth. What should the public think now? Really, it is just a normal question in everybody’s mind. Are you still a Sanyasi?

    If you still call yourself Sanyasi, do you really follow the Sanyas-Dharm, all those things that a Sanyasi should do? Do you get time in between all the TV interviews, advertisements and other deals? We want to know the truth about you! Help people understand who you are!

    When you say you do not own property or any money, people know immediately that it is only a play of words. If you own a corporation and that company has money, it is of course yours, too. People who buy your products in stores all over India are not stupid, they know that they are supporting you! They know that they don’t only give you money but they buy from you because they want to support you! They also see that your family members drive around in expensive cars and have a lot more money than what they themselves could be earning.

    Recently, I saw some figures on a TV news channel which made your statement of ‘not owning anything’ sound somewhat ridiculous. It said your empire is worth at least 11.52 billion rupees and they gave a lot of details:

    1000 Acres Property in Haridwar 3 Billion Rupees /~ 67 Million US-Dollars
    100 Acres Ashram in Haridwar 1 Billion Rupees /~ 22 Million US-Dollars
    food Park in Haridwar 5 Billion Rupees /~ 111 Million US-Dollars
    Buildings in Haridwar 250 Million Rupees /~ 6 Million US-Dollars
    96 Acres Property in Solan, Himachal Pradesh 200 Million Rupees /~ 4 Million US-Dollars
    750 Acres Island in Scotland 140 Million Rupees /~ 3 Million US-Dollars
    99 Acres Property in Houston 980 Million Rupees /~ 22 Million US-Dollars
    20% Profit of Yearly Sales of Ayurvedic Medicine 3 Billion Rupees Sales x 0.20 = 600 Million Rupees /~ 13 Million US-Dollars
    Sales of Books and CDs 100 Million Rupees /~ 2 Million US-Dollars
    Income of 50000 people coming to your center every year, paying 5000 Rupees per Yoga camp week 250 Million Rupees /~ 6 Million US-Dollars

    And then you tell people that you need Billions of Rupees of upcoming projects. It obviously looks like your ambitions are never-ending! Is that really the path of a Sanyasi who has renounced from all worldly attachments?

    Some years ago there were allegations on you and your company to have mixed the powder of human bones in the medicine you were producing and selling. You were able to save yourself and your company through your connections and your approach to the right people. A few days ago the former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav gave a statement on TV, saying that he and others saved you by taking your favour in that time but they would not do that for you again. It seems that there was something wrong, otherwise why would anybody talk about having saved you?

    You yourself have been seen on different spiritual TV channels a lot, so that everybody got to know your name and face. Everybody knows that one can buy the slots there and just pay for the sending time. I have heard however that you even the majority of the shares of one of those channels, so you can practically broadcast whatever you want. Another rumour is that you have plans to start your own news channel, too, because the other ones don’t give enough coverage of your own news and your statements. What should people think about this all?

    I remember a few years ago I heard you saying on TV that you have nothing in foreign countries and you don’t even have a passport. In that time you were focusing on India and honestly had nothing to do with foreign countries. Some people liked it because you obviously were devoted to your home country. Sometime later you went to the west yourself though and gave a few very big yoga programs there. You must have been disappointed, because western people did not really accept you and your ways there.

    To be honest, I think that is your own fault. You gave a very strange statement, saying that yoga can cure cancer. If you had said, yoga can help if you have cancer, it would have been right but people in educated countries know enough about medicine that this is not true. Additionally you have very narrow-minded ideas of sexuality and straight-out said that homosexuality is wrong. Your yoga-oriented audience in the west did not really like that idea, either, which reminds them maybe too much of the opinion of the Pope and the suppression of sexuality through the Catholic Church.

    Well, I guess it was best for you to come back home, where you still find followers for those ideas too.

    There are of course many of your ideas that I don’t approve of but you had a lot of respect for your whole work of yoga. If you could have stayed with that, it would have been good for you. Your ambitions made you show different faces to the public, the face of the businessman and the face of a politician. Don’t you see that the graph of your popularity is going down, that people have doubts and that there are fingers pointing at you? Don’t you think you have cut that branch on which you were sitting and planted the seed of doubt in people’s minds? I am really sad about this for you, are you not? I may have supported you, too, with your good deeds for the world of yoga but not with all these doubts.

    If you did some real charity with your money, I would be really happy. It seems however that you are too much the businessman for that and like to invest your money in this way. If you consider all of this, you must understand why people believe that you act out of personal interest and the ambition of getting more power and wealth instead of acting for the interest of the nation.

    I hope nobody thinks now that I am a supporter of the Congress party. I do not have any interest or involvement in politics and I don’t give any donation to any political party. What I say to you is from my heart and I believe this is not only my voice. Millions of Indians have these questions for you. I am not your enemy and I am not opposing you. I just would like to see clearly what your agenda is.

    I come from the same background, have lived the life of a guru but gave it up, along with all followers and my religion. I am now a happily married businessman, paying tax and having nothing to do with politics. I am a simple man with no millions in my account and also have no ambition to have an empire like you. I could have, if I had remained a Guru in this religious country. But I decided not to. I just want enough for my family to survive nicely and live in a respectful manner, so that sometime, if you come to my home, I can feed you, too.

    As Kabir said:“Sahib itana dijiye jame kutum samay | mai bhi bhukha na rahu aur Sadhu na bhukha jaye||”

    In short this means, I just want to live nicely and honestly and die peacefully. You may thus say I am just one of the normal Indian people, hereby raising my voice to just ask what you are all about.

    It does not matter to me who you want to be, the yoga teacher, the businessman, the politician or all three at once. Whichever role you decide to play however, be honest in it, only that is the right way. People doubt and find out lies. Nobody can cover and hide money, property and crimes. It will come out and destroy all of what they have built.

    I hope you and your followers understand my words in the way they are meant and do not get angry with me. I wish you all the best whichever way you decide to go.

    Swami Balendu

     

    The letter was originally posted on www.Jaisiyaram.com

  • Ramdev Row: Digvijay Singh’s House in Bhopal Stoned

    BeyondHeadlines  Special Correspondent

    Bhopal: Some unknown persons stone Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh’s house yesterday night in Bhopal. Although the security arrangment has been made more strict, no case has been registered so far.
    Yesterday, the Congress leader had said “Baba Ramdev is a thug who is misleading the nation.”
    Not among those astounded by Baba Ramdev’s contentious eviction from Delhi where he was on a hunger strike against corruption in the government, Digvijaya Singh had said, “We can’t allow someone like Ramdev to run riot in Delhi. He had permission only to run a yoga camp. He was trying to incite people.”
    At around 1 am on Sunday, police had lathicharged and teargassed the Baba’s 65000 supporters who had gathered for his “satyagraha” at Ramlila Maidan.
    Digvijaya Singh has frequently spoken against the Baba and his attempts to force the government to launch a mission to recover crores of black money from foreign bank accounts.
    The government was engaged in fraught negotiations with the Baba for most of last week. But the talks between the government and the Baba crashed on Saturday night with both sides citing betrayal.

     

     

  • Apex Court Issues Notice to Govt Seeking Response on Eviction of Baba Ramdev Within 2 Week

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: In a major development, the Supreme Court today issued notice to the government on the police crackdown on protesting Baba Ramdev. Taking suomoto cognizance of Baba’s eviction by the government, the apex court gave the government two-week notice to respond.
    An advocate today knocked the door of the highest judicial body of the country seeking a direction to the government to issue a white paper on the entire episode leading to the eviction of Ramdev and the alleged barbaric police action early today against his followers at the Ramlila Grounds.
    The petition filed by Ajay Agarwal said in the white paper the government should explain the entire sequence of events, details of negotiations and the so-called deal between the government and Ramdev.
    The petition, moved before Additional Registrar Vinod Kumar who is the vacation officer, sought a direction to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Intelligence Bureau and Delhi Police to produce the entire records leading to the action.
    The advocate has sought the production of these records with in 24 hours.
    The additional registrar asked Agarwal to mention the petition tomorrow before a vacation bench comprising justices B S Chauhan and Swantanter Kumar at 10:30 am for hearing.
    The petition has also sought direction to the government to restrain its ministers — Kapil Sibal , Subodh Kant Sahay and Pawan Kumar Bansal — from making any statement, justifying the midnight swoop which is leading to provocation among the public.
    In the petition, Agarwal has named Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Sibal, Bansal, Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, Home Secretary G K Pillai, IB Chief Nehchal Sandhu and Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta as respondents.
    In the petition, the advocate has alleged that the forceful eviction of Ramdev and the use of force against his followers was against the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14,19 and 21 of the Constitution.
  • There Are Enough Laws to Tackle Black Money; Parliament Cannot Take Dictation From Self-Appoi​nted Crusaders: Union Commerce and Industry Minister

    There Are Enough Laws to Tackle Black Money; Parliament Cannot Take Dictation From Self-Appoi​nted Crusaders: Union Commerce and Industry Minister

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: Making an attempt to rescue the government from the nationwide reaction on the crackdown of Baba Ramdev, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said yesterday that there were enough laws to tackle black money and that Parliament could not take a dictation from self-appointed crusaders.

    Talking to The Indian Express yesterday, Sharma said, “There are enough laws to tackle ill gotten money — be it from money laundering, crime or drug trafficking. The government’s actions so far were only to defuse the tension.”

    The minister admitted that such events did result in a negative projection of India in international forums. “But, our global partners will surely see through the political agenda,” Sharma said. “India has a rule-based governance system. Such decisions cannot be made in the streets and chowks.”

    The issue of black money is complex and the government is seriously addressing it. “We have signed agreements with a large number of countries including the Bahamas, Channel Islands, Switzerland. India is also part of the international task force set up on this issue by the G-20. The government is sincere and committed to tackling the black money issue,” he said.

    Sharma said in his meeting with industry captains in the two cities, there was general concern about these self-appointed activists being unelected and unaccountable to any institution. “There are issues that need to be taken care of through legislation. There is a clear political agenda behind orchestrating such events,” he said.

    In a press statement earlier in the evening, he claimed that developments in the recent weeks to project India as a country of scams and corruption were part of a diabolic and sinister political agenda. “The coercive attempts to hold the state to ransom and dictate to Parliament in discharge of its sovereign function have no place in democracy,” he said.

    According to him, Ramdev’s agitation was a coalition of a partisan political agenda and political forces rejected by democratic processes in recent elections. “Hiding behind the mask were communalist and fascist forces — Bajrang Dal, RSS and VHP which had at their heart an aim to destabilise Indian polity.”