There is one thing common between controversial godman Asaram and yoga guru-turned-shadow politician Ramde v: they both blame all their problems on UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Ramdev, known for his inimitable belly-churning feat and overtly political yoga classes, has come down heavily on the Congress governments at the Centre as well as in Uttarakhand for hatching a conspiracy to defame him. The Uttarakhand Police booked Ramdev's brother Rambharat for allegedly kidnapping and beating a youth after a raid at the yoga guru's Patanjali ashram on Monday night where they found an injured young man identified as Nitin Tyagi.
The incident led to protests by the BJP workers in Haridwar. Ramdev's supporters maintained that the police version was concocted and that Tyagi was caught on charges of stealing by the security staff at the Yog Peeth and was later handed over to the local police.
The theory of all conspiracies
Addresing a press meet in Indore, Ramdev said, "I am being portrayed as a criminal. It is clear from some incidents in the recent past that I am being victimised and targeted by the ruling Congress party." Giving credence to all the conspiracy theory, Ramdev said there were efforts to bring in sex workers into his (Patanjali) ashram to accuse him of being a sex offender.
This is not new. The yoga guru has blamed the ruling Congress party for many of his troubles in the past as well.
Late last month, the yoga guru had questioned the UPA chairperson's role in his detention at the Heathrow airport. On September 20, Ramdev was detained at the London airport for eight hours before he was allowed to continue his visit and preach yoga at meetings. While the British Home Office declined to comment on the reasons behind his detention, some media reports said that Ramdev was questioned about certain medicines he was carrying with him. The inside story of how Baba Ramdev was given a clean chit at Heathrow Airport
A history of disappearances
Ramdev's brother is currently absconding. But then, disappearances are not an uncommon thing among his men. After the salwar-kurta-clad yoga guru's famous disappearing act on June 4, 2011, from the Ramlila maidan in Delhi where his supporters braved lathi blows from policemen and a woman supporter even succumbed to her injuries later, his close aide Balkrishna went missing, giving credence to speculation among his supporters that the government could have been behind this. Balkrishna reappeared four days later, claiming he had remained in hiding to avoid repercussions from the police for his involvement in the protests.
Balkrishna has had his own brush with the law. On September 23, a special CBI court framed charges against Balkrishna in the fake passport case. He was arrested by the CBI in July 2012 for allegedly submitting fake documents to obtain a passport. Balkrishna is currently out on bail. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which conducted a preliminary probe against him, claimed that Balkrishna was involved in a Jharkhand-based company and allegedly violated FEMA norms. The ED claimed Balkrishna had travelled to over 25 countries on a fake passport including those which are known tax havens.
In July 2007, Ramdev's guru Swami Shankar Dev mysteriously went missing. He had been living in Ramdev's ashram and was last seen when he had gone out for a morning walk six years ago. Swami Shankar Dev was the founder of Divya Yog Mandir Trust, currently headed by Ramdev who is under the scanner for alleged violations in the labelling of some products of the Trust.
Baba's political asanas
Ramdev's yoga camps have always had their overtly political asanas. The Election Commission in particular has a tough time dealing with them. On October 10, the Chhattisgarh Election Commission proposed addition of expenses incurred during Ramdev's recent visit to the state in the election expenditure account of BJP, as his speeches during this period allegedly amounted to campaigning in favour of the ruling party.
In July, Ramdev vowed to ensure the defeat of Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the next Lok Sabha election by camping in and campaigning against her in Rae Bareli. The yoga guru admitted that he was a supporter of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi because he had a proven track record of good governance. Thankfully, the model code of conduct was not in force then.
The yoga guru has blamed the ruling Congress party for all his troubles, claiming that the party is misusing the CBI and Enforcement Directorate to falsely implicate him in criminal cases. While many of his supporters believe his conspiracy theories, not all of them seem plausible. If this were true and the ruling party could abuse power to this extent, there would never be an opposition and all political rivals would be waiting for their turn at the gallows.
Secondly, if somebody (his brother Rambharat) is truly innocent, he has no need to be on the run. In this country even those arrested on terror charges who hardly find lawyers to defend them have been acquitted. It's not all so bleak, Baba.
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