Bad season for Congress, fear of Ramdev haunts it

It is a bad season for Congress.
At last, Ramdev has put the party into edgy.
Now, barely few hours left before Yoga Guru Ramdev
sits on his fast after his prolonged two rounds of talks with the
union government on the black money issue failed, the Congress leaders
were looking for cover even as all-season vocal leader Digvijaya Singh spoke out openly against the Yoga Guru.
"Right from putting up the pandal to organise the meetings, everywhere
there is RSS," he told reporters even as the two union ministers Mr
Kapil Sibal and Mr Subodh Kant Sahai were engaged in closed door
meeting with the Baba for over four hours.
The Congress is apprehensive apparently that such an agitation on an
emotive issue like corruption could cost Congress in UP elections
due next year and also against the UPA government as various
corruption issues had already embarrassed Dr Manmohan Singh regime.
"If you want to teach yoga, I have no problem, but if you want to do
politics, then join the fray,” Mr Singh virtually threw a challenge.
Mr Singh alleged that Ramdev has been collecting money even from
corrupt people.
It was Mr Singh, who earlier protested against four union ministers
meeting with Ramdev in the airport, had yesterday dubbed Ramdev of
being "more of a businessman than a Sanyasi".
In a television interview in the evening, Mr Singh also claimed that
he had evidences against Ramdev’s collection of funds and will come
out with all that “when the time comes”.
He denied there was “no divergent” of views in the Congress on the
Ramdev although he remains only Congress leader who is speaking
against Ramdev.
Mr Singh also linked former BJP leader Mr K N Govindacharya appealing
to the Ramdev for launching a cruade against corruption.

Earlier in the day, even at scheduled press briefing contrary to the
aggressive stance taken by the party on the government deputing four
ministers to placate Ramdev to call off his proposed agitation, the
Congress spokesperson Mr Abhishek Singhvi declined to make any comment
on the negotiations between the government and Baba Ramdev.

"The government is talking to Baba Ramdev. There is no need for the
Congress to react. It is a process of negotiations between the
negotiators on both sides," Mr Singhvi said.

The party had said on Wednesday that neither the party nor the
Congress president Ms Sonia Gandhi was not kept in the loop about the
decision by the government on its decision to send its key four
ministers to the airport to receive Baba Ramdev.

Earlier, the Prime Minister had written a letter to Baba Ramdev a few
days ago urging him not to go ahead with his fast and assured him that
the government was serious to tackle corruption and was taking all
possible steps in this direction.
Mr Digvijaya Singh, however, maintained that as a sensitive
government, the ministers had their own reasons to go to the airport
and talk to Ramdev on his proposed protest fast.

(ends)