New Delhi:
Because Baba Ramdev is taking on the government over corruption, he has been praised and backed by the Opposition BJP. The yoga icon has always been close to the BJP's parent body, the RSS.
And as he gets ready to launch his indefinite hunger strike, the RSS has ordered its workers to join in.
What the Baba wants is for the government to recover the crores of black money that Indians have channelled into foreign bank accounts. "We back him on the black money issue," said the BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad. The message is clear - the BJP's support is not unconditional.
The problem is that if lakhs of supporters are expected to join the Baba's fast, it would mean the BJP would no longer be the loudest voice against corruption within the government. And with Gandhian activist Anna Hazare scheduled to make a special appearance at the site of Baba Ramdev's fast on Sunday, the BJP believes it could be sidelined even further.
Civil society activists have united under the umbrella organization of India Against Corruption. In April, Mr Hazare's nearly week-long hunger fast catapulted middle-class India out of its drawing rooms and onto the streets. A stung government had no choice but to agree to Mr Hazare's terms - he was allowed to nominate himself and four other activists to a committee that has till June 30 to draft a new law against corruption.
Mr Hazare says the five ministers on the committee are bent on diluting the most important parts of the new Lokpal Bill (Citizen's Ombudsman Bill). Those sorts of allegations give the BJP new ammunition in its political warfare with the government.
But it also doesn't want to be reduced to a footnote in the campaigns of activists like the Baba or Mr Hazare. So for now, it is walking a cautious line. If the activists fail to make a dent for some reason, the BJP is on stand-by to step in and reclaim its role as the main critic of the government and its multiple corruption scandals.
And as he gets ready to launch his indefinite hunger strike, the RSS has ordered its workers to join in.
What the Baba wants is for the government to recover the crores of black money that Indians have channelled into foreign bank accounts. "We back him on the black money issue," said the BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad. The message is clear - the BJP's support is not unconditional.
The problem is that if lakhs of supporters are expected to join the Baba's fast, it would mean the BJP would no longer be the loudest voice against corruption within the government. And with Gandhian activist Anna Hazare scheduled to make a special appearance at the site of Baba Ramdev's fast on Sunday, the BJP believes it could be sidelined even further.
Civil society activists have united under the umbrella organization of India Against Corruption. In April, Mr Hazare's nearly week-long hunger fast catapulted middle-class India out of its drawing rooms and onto the streets. A stung government had no choice but to agree to Mr Hazare's terms - he was allowed to nominate himself and four other activists to a committee that has till June 30 to draft a new law against corruption.
Mr Hazare says the five ministers on the committee are bent on diluting the most important parts of the new Lokpal Bill (Citizen's Ombudsman Bill). Those sorts of allegations give the BJP new ammunition in its political warfare with the government.
But it also doesn't want to be reduced to a footnote in the campaigns of activists like the Baba or Mr Hazare. So for now, it is walking a cautious line. If the activists fail to make a dent for some reason, the BJP is on stand-by to step in and reclaim its role as the main critic of the government and its multiple corruption scandals.
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