The Shiv Sena on Monday said it disapproved of fast as a political weapon, but argued that yoga guru Baba Ramdev was a citizen of India, and had every right to create a political space for himself.
With the Enforcement Directorate probing charges of Foreign Currency Regulatory Act violations by his trusts, Yoga guru Ramdev on Saturday accused the government of hatching a conspiracy to stop him from going ahead with his movement against black money.
Amid a raging controversy over saffronisation of education, IIT Delhi's decision to invite yoga guru Ramdev and an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliate for deliberations on a programme to leverage the technical strength of the IITs for development of rural areas has raised eyebrows.
Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravishankar, who met the 46-year-old yoga exponent for the third day at a Dehradun hospital, said, "Ramdev has broken his fast by taking juice. He ended the fast in the presence of various religious and spiritual leaders".
Yoga guru Ramdev on Wednesday blamed the Congress-led UPA government for "loot" and "corruption" in the country and said he was trying to build public opinion against it.
Protesters led by yoga guru Ramdev and former army chief V K Singh clashed with police at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Sunday afternoon when they were prevented from marching towards India Gate, the epicentre of protests against gang-rape of a 23-year-old.
Uma Bharti, who recently made a comeback to Bharatiya Janata Party, on Tuesday said the United Progressive Alliance government was deliberately 'discrediting' Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev for channelising growing discontent among common people against the UPA government.
Social activist Medha Patkar -- who recently concluded her own hunger strike over the issue of removal of slums in Mumbai on Friday said that Yoga guru Baba Ramdev's agitation was "expensive".
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Friday criticised Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh for his recent remarks on yoga guru Baba Ramdev, asking him to come clean on the source of funding for his activities. "The Congress party has never acknowledged the contributions of Hindu saints towards preserving the nation's moral fabric. Digvijay Singh's recent remarks against Baba Ramdev are yet another instance of showing disrespect to Hindu saints and their contributions," he said.
"I have taken a Bhsima Pratigya (unflinching promise) not to enter politics, but have also taken a pledge to stop commercialisation, industrialisation and criminalisation of the political system of the country," Swami Ramdev told UNI in an exclusive interview.
Claiming that trusts run by Ramdev were involved in money-laundering, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has said the yoga guru should declare the names of those who donated money to his trusts. "Ramdev, who has raised certain questions against the central government, should take the initiative to declare the names of those who donated money to his trusts," Singh said.
"There is nothing left to discuss (with Ramdev). On what issue will will talk? Whatever talks had to happen have already happened," Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay, involved in negotiations with the yoga guru, told media-persons
The Delhi police have registered a case against unnamed persons on charges of rioting in connection with the Baba Ramdev-led protest at Ramleela maidan on Sunday
Ramdev's brother has been booked by Uttarakhand police for allegedly abducting a former employee of the yoga guru and thrashing him in captivity.
Attacking the United Progressive Alliance government and threatening a fight to the finish by August on the black money issue, Anna Hazare and yoga guru Ramdev on Sunday sat on a day-long fast to protest against corruption.
Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj on Sunday favoured the Union government entering into a dialogue with foreign countries to get back the black money stashed abroad by Indians even as he lashed out at Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev for raising the issue.
Yoga guru Ramdev on Monday alleged in the Supreme Court that Home Minister P Chidambaram was behind the midnight crackdown on him and his followers during the protests on the issue of black money at the Ramlila Maidan in June.
Returning to New Delhi three weeks after he was bundled out from the national capital, yoga guru Ramdev has attacked the government claiming that it has no will to fight corruption or create a Lokpal to check the menace.
Twenty days after he was bundled out of Delhi, yoga guru Ramdev on Sunday came back to the national capital to visit a woman follower who was seriously injured in the crackdown during his protest against corruption.
Two days after he ended his fast, yoga guru Ramdev was on Tuesday discharged from hospital and said he did not commit any "sin" by demanding action against corruption and would continue his campaign for return of black money stashed away abroad.
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Tuesday criticised the Congress for not doing enough to curtail corruption, black money and militancy in Uttar Pradesh. Baba Ramdev described Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh as a piece of garbage and rejected material and warned that Rahul Gandhi was following in the latter's footsteps.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Thursday denied that Anna Hazare would be given a treatment similar to yoga guru Ramdev if he goes on fast unto death from August 16 on the Lokpal issue.
Organisers said the tent collapsed due to rain.
The government is not engaged in any 'back door' dialogue with yoga guru Ramdev, who went on an indefinite fast on the issue of repatriation of black money, Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said. "There is no back door and open door talks with any one. Whether it is Ramdev or anyone," he told reporters. Moily evaded reply when asked whether the government has sought the help of Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar for negotiations with the yoga guru.
Ramdev, who is on a fast against corruption at the Ramlila gounds in the capital, tried to evade arrest and jumped from the 15-feet-high stage. He was gheraoed by women devotees but police was well-prepared to take him out of the ground. He was taken to an unknown destination on the outskirts of New Delhi.
Yoga guru Ramdev was on Saturday cleared by United Kingdom authorities following a second round of questioning at Heathrow Airport here, a day after he was detained and quizzed by customs officials for over six hours on landing in Britain.
Ignored by the government, yoga guru Ramdev on Monday decided to take his protest on black money and corruption to Parliament and vowed to oust the Congress in the next Lok Sabha polls.
Yoga guru Ramdev on Monday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should display "political and constitutional responsibility" in cracking down on corruption.
Fourteen months after he was bundled out of Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi in a midnight police swoop, yoga guru Ramdev will return to the same venue on Thursday for another round of indefinite protest demanding bringing back black money stashed abroad
As yoga guru Ramdev raised the pitch against Congress over the issue of black money, United Progressive Alliance ally Samajwadi Party on Monday said it will support anybody who fights for the cause.
Yoga guru Ramdev on Saturday announced a fresh agitation targeting Congress from October 2 that will last till next Lok Sabha elections with immediate attention on upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Impressed by yoga guru Swami Ramdev's efforts to arouse within Biharis the urge to attain total fitness, the state government has decided to appoint him the brand ambassador of Bihar.
Supporting social activist Anna Hazare and yoga guru Ramdev's joint crusade for a strong Lokpal bill, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said his party welcomes all those fighting black money and corruption.
The Delhi police has cited "provocative" speeches made by religious and political leaders, including Baba Ramdev and Sadhvi Ritambara, as the main reason for cancelling permission for the yoga guru's protest at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi.
The Delhi police has cited "provocative" speeches made by religious and political leaders, including Baba Ramdev and Sadhvi Ritambara, as the main reason for cancelling permission for the yoga guru's protest at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi.
Virtually snubbing Arvind Kejriwal, yoga guru Ramdev on Sunday disapproved of the Team Anna member's comments against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other politicians during his fast along with Anna Hazare, saying he was against personal criticism.
Yoga guru Ramdev on Sunday alleged that a senior Congress leader was hatching conspiracy to link him to the death of a Bharat Swabhiman Manch activist and disappearance of his Guru Shankar Dev.
The Chhattisgarh Election Commission has proposed the addition of expenses incurred during Baba Ramdev's recent visit to the state in the election expenditure account of the Bharatiya Janata Party, as his speeches during this period allegedly amounted to a campaign in favour of the ruling party.
Even as the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government is at loggerhead with yoga guru Baba Ramdev over the latter's tirade against corruption and black money in foreign banks, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has remembered that he had once ordered allotment of a plot of land to the yoga guru for his institution in Guwahati.
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