Baba Ramdev ignored by government, but Gadkari, Sharad Yadav pay tribute

August 13, 2012

gadkeri

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.


Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 14,2020

London, May 14: Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Thursday urged the Central government to accept his offer to repay 100 per cent of his loan dues and close the case against him.

While congratulating the Centre for introducing Rs 20 lakh crore relief package to boost the economy amid the coronavirus lockdown, Mallya, lamented that his repeated attempts to pay back his dues have been ignored by the Indian government.

"Congratulations to the Government for a Covid 19 relief package. They can print as much currency as they want BUT should a small contributor like me who offers 100% payback of State-owned Bank loans be constantly ignored? Please take my money unconditionally and close," he tweeted.

Earlier this month, Mallya had sought permission to appeal against a ruling ordering his extradition to India in Britain's highest court the UK Supreme Court.

The application comes two weeks after the High Court in London - the UK's second-highest court - dismissed Mallya's appeal against a lower court ruling that he be sent to India to face charges of defrauding a consortium of Indian banks of more than Rs 9,000 crores relating to the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines in 2012.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 4,2020

Bhopal, Mar 4: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister  Kamal Nath on Tuesday asserted that there was no threat to his government.

Nath's comments came when he was asked about reports of alleged 'poaching' attempts being made by the opposition BJP in the state.

“The legislators are telling me that they are being offered so much money. I am telling the MLAs to take it, if they are getting this free money,” Nath told reporters here on the sidelines of a programme.

Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh on Monday alleged that his party MLAs were being offered “huge money by BJP leaders” as part of the saffron party's “poaching” attempt to destablise the Kamal Nath government.

When Nath was asked about any threat to the stability of his government in Madhya Pradesh, he said, “There is nothing to worry about.”

Reacting to Nath's statement, state BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal told PTI that his party has nothing to do with the allegations.

“In fact, these speculations and allegations are part of the internal bickering of among Congress leaders to get nominated for the Rajya Sabha polls,” he said.

After Digvijaya Singh's remarks on Monday, senior BJP leader and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused the Congress veteran of making false statements to create sensationalism.

“Speaking lies to create sensationalism is Digvijaya's habit. Probably some of his (Digivijaya's) works were not done and he wants to create pressure on the CM to get them done,” Chouhan alleged.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
June 7,2020

New Delhi, Jun 7: The Islamic Centre of India on Saturday issued an advisory for those visiting mosques in view of the Centre’s decision to allow reopening of religious places from June 8.

Islamic Centre of India chairman Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali advised people above 65 years and under 10 years of age not to visit mosques and instead offer prayers at home.

He also advised against crowding in mosques, stressing that not more than five people should be present at a time and social distancing be maintained, with the ‘namazis’ using masks and keeping a distance of six feet among themselves while offering prayers.

He added that the situation would be reviewed after 15 days and if required, another advisory would be issued.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.