Photos of Ramdev attacker with ministers puts Cong, BJP in trouble

A day after black ink was poured at Ramdev's face, Congress and BJP today found themselves in a difficult situation with private TV channels airing pictures of his attacker Kamran Siddiqui purportedly in the company of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Rajnath Singh.

Dikshit is yet to react to the picture while the former BJP chief said he does not know when it was taken.

However, the Yoga guru himself was quick to blame the Congress, saying, "Chief Minister of Delhi is seen in a photo with him. And, news stories are circulating on the Internet about this, some explanation they (Cong) must give," Ramdev told a TV channel referring to Dikshit's picture with Siddiqui.

Rajnath Singh also had to answer questions as photographs of him along with Siddiqui appeared on TV.

"I don't know when that picture was taken, I don't have any information about it," Rajnath Singh said.

It was BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain who rose to Singh's defence. "When I had gone for the Okhla bye-election, he (Siddiqui) had very strongly opposed us. By bringing out an old photo and then connecting the incident to the BJP is not the right thing," Hussain said.

Earlier, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh had blamed the BJP and Sangh Praivar for the incident.

"To resurrect the falling influence of the BJP and Ramdev, the Sangh Parivar has done this thing. It is the dirty tricks department of the BJP which has done this," Digvijay Singh had said.

Siddiqui, who has been granted bail, said the attack was a spontaneous outburst of emotion. "People have been saying this is a planned incident but it is not so. I have not done this on anybody's instruction," he said.

Siddiqui also told a TV Channel that he had campaigned for BJP leader Rajnath Singh when he contested from Ghaziabad but denied that he had ever been a member of the BJP.