New Delhi:
Expressing concern over Baba Ramdev's health, the BJP has said the Centre should intervene as any untoward turn in the yoga teacher's health can become a national issue.
The announcement came late on Friday night, after the BJP core group met at senior leader LK Advani's residence. The meeting was attended by BJP President Nitin Gadkari, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and General Secretary Ananth Kumar.
Earlier on Friday, the party said the government should take Ramdev's fast against corruption and black money seriously and announce "credible action" to tackle the issues raised by him.
"This (black money) is a very serious issue....He has raised some very pertinent questions on the issue of corruption and the whole country is agitated on the issue. We want that the government take this matter seriously and announce some credible measures," BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Baba Ramdev who enters the eighth day of his fast today, was carried out of his ashram in Haridwar on a stretcher on Friday and admitted to a hospital in Dehradun. He was also given glucose in an ambulance en route to the hospital. Doctors attending to him said his liver had been affected and his blood pressure was worryingly low.
The yoga guru and the government have been at war since last Saturday, when the Baba was evicted from his camp in Delhi where he combined yoga classes with a sit-in protest and the launch of his hunger strike against corruption and black money. 65,000 people were in attendance when the police broke up the camp with teargassing and a lathicharge. The Baba was evicted and flown back to Uttarakhand.
The action at Ramlila Maidan ended days of negotiation between the government and the Baba over his suggestions for how to tackle the problem of crores of untaxed money that have been shipped abroad. The late-night violence united Opposition parties who accused the government of violating citizens' right to peacefully protest. Civil activists who have declared Gandhian Anna Hazare their leader pounded the government too, with public criticism and a one-day fast at Rajghat on Wednesday.
(
With PTI Inputs)