Govt rules out further talks with Ramdev

To a question on whether the action had the endorsement of the party,he said “absolutely,100 per cent. No such action takes place without 100 per cent unity in the government and the party.”

On the issue of black money,Sahay said brining back black money stashed abroad is government’s agenda and it was committed to the cause not because the issue has been raised by an individual.

Terming the police action to remove Ramdev as “unfortunate”,Finance Minister Pranab Mukerjee who led negotiations on behalf of government,the issues raised by the Baba are important and have to be addressed.

“…when negotiations were conducted,he said he will confine (his protest) to three days. If he would have stuck to this,then these turn of events would not have happened,” Mukherjee said.

Rejecting BJP’s allegation that the police action against Ramdev was reminiscent of the Emergency,Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the government had to act as the yoga guru did not see reason. “He didn’t see reason and the government had to act,” Bansal told reporters in Chandigarh.

“It was not a crackdown. We had to do it to maintain law and order,” he said,justifying the police action to end the yoga guru’s agitation.

Sibal said there were apprehensions about law and order situation in Delhi as the yoga guru had collected 50,000 people for “political aasan” (manoeuver) although he had sought permission for a yoga camp for a gathering of 5,000 only. “It was not a yoga platform but a political platform. The law and order had to be enforced in Delhi. We did not want any disruptions in that,” he said.

Rejecting BJP’s allegations that the crackdown was reminiscent of Emergency,Sibal said that Ramdev was in league with RSS and referred to the presence of firebrand Sangh Parivar Sadhvi Ritambhara in his protest.

The Union Minister alleged Ramdev was “not a trustworthy person” as he had “cheated” the government and also his followers.

“He reached an agreement with the government but did not tell it to his followers,” Sibal said.

He said government and Ramdev had reached an understanding as per which the yoga guru was supposed to announce calling off of his strike by yesterday afternoon but he did not honour the commitment.

“Despite assurances,he did not make the announcement. We were in touch with him over phone. We waited till 5 pm. When he did not give statement we decided to go to press. We told him that,” Sibal explained,referring to making public the letter written by one of his close associate.

“If he backs out,how will we trust him,” the minister questioned. Sahay said the yoga guru’s actions now betray that he had a “political agenda”.

He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had written to Ramdev on May 19 informing him of the formation of the Group of Ministers on corruption and told him that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will apprise him of the steps taken by the government in this regard.

The Union Minister said even Mukherjee had sent an official response to Ramdev on May 20,listing the measures taken by the government on the issue,and the yoga guru during his visit here on May 24-25 had expressed satisfaction over the government’s efforts.

He said the government did not stop at that and went “out of way” in sending four minister to the airport to discuss with him the issue on June 1,which reflected the government’s intention and policy were clear.”

Sahay,who was stated to be close to the yoga guru,also rued that had the latter fulfilled his commitment,such a situation would not have emerged and added the government was compelled to resort to such a step. “We wish he (Ramdev) stays healthy and keep teaching yoga to the people. He is angry and that’s why he is saying all this,” he said,responding to the yoga guru’s allegations that the government wanted to eliminate him.