Govt made series of 'deceitful compromises' with Ramdev: CPI(M)

The CPI(M) today charged the UPA government with making "a series of deceitful compromises" with yoga guru Ramdev and accused Congress and BJP of taking advantage of the popular resentment against corruption and "perhaps by purpose" negating the actual fight against it.

"The midnight police swoop against Ramdev and his supporters sitting on a protest at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan was the culmination of a series of deceitful compromises that the UPA government had made with this yoga proponent," senior party leader Sitaram Yechury said.

While condemning the police action, he said the Congress and BJP used the popular disgust and discontent against corruption in high places and sought to "cynically exploit" these developments to their advantage.

"In the process, the all-important fight against corruption and black money is being negated. This is perhaps by purpose as both --- the Congress and the BJP --- promote crony capitalism", Yechury said in an editorial in the forthcoming issue of CPI(M) organ 'People's Democracy'.

Observing that Congress leaders were now saying that Ramdev "betrayed" them and portraying him as a "dubious character", he asked "were such assessments not clear when the government sent a high-powered delegation of four senior-most ministers and the Union Cabinet Secretary to enter into compromises with him?"

Noting that the government was now talking about Ramdev's business deals, he asked "were they not aware of these facts while they were making their own deals with him?

"Between 2006 and 2011, his business empire emerged, with 34 incorporated companies. These are facts recorded in the files of the corporate affairs ministry. The two main trusts run by Ramdev have reported a turnover of over Rs1,100 crore in 2009-10".

The CPI(M) leader said it was also known to the government that Ramdev owned an island in Scotland "reportedly donated by a disciple" and offered five-star deluxe AC yoga camps and the tent erected for his protest at Ramlila Maidan -- ostensibly for fighting corruption. Questions were also raised regarding the land on which his Hardwar Ashram stands.

Accusing the BJP of "using Ramdev as its political mascot", Yechury said a week before June 4, when the action was to begin, the RSS had "sent out circulars to all its shakhas to join the Ramdev movement. The RSS's involvement was fairly obvious from such sponsorship.

"Among those who were prominently seen supporting Ramdev were the RSS 'poster sadhu' - Sadhvi Ritambhara - whose incendiary speeches fed the Ramjanmabhumi movement leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Another 'saffron' stalwart, Uma Bharti, used the occasion to re-enter the BJP".

With the track record of BJP state government in Karnataka on the issue of corruption, "these efforts sharply expose the party's double standards", he said.

Maintaining that the issue of the Lokpal has been pending before Parliament for over four decades now, Yechury said popular pressure must be strengthened to force the government to enact an effective bill to curb corruption at high places and bring back the ill-gotten black money stashed abroad.