The Indian Medical Association has been up in arms against Ramdev over his remarks (File)
Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal on Wednesday slammed Baba Ramdev for his recent tirade against the allopathic system of medicine and dubbed the famed Yoga teacher as one who had popularized the ancient discipline like "Coco Cola" but lacked the gravitas of a Yogi.
Mr Jaiswal, a multiple term MP from Pashchim Champaran and a qualified medical practitioner himself, also urged the Indian Medical Association from steering clear of the spat, saying it
was tantamount to frittering away of energies.
"Ramdev is a Yoga guru. Nobody can question his mastery of Yoga. But he is certainly not a Yogi. A Yogi is one who has all his senses and faculties firmly under control", Mr Jaiswal said in a Facebook post.
"What he has done for Yoga is comparable to what Coco Cola did for beverages. Indians have been, since ages, consuming Shikanji and thandai but after the advent of the soft drink giant, every home seems to be stocked with bottles of Pepsi and Coke", Mr Jaiswal remarked.
He, however, urged the IMA not to join issue with the Yoga guru and said "we must not fritter away our energies over trivia and concentrate on our noble profession.
"It would be the befitting service to our innumerable colleagues who have lost their lives attending to their duties in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic".
Ramdev has been in the eye of a storm over a recently released video clip in which he questioned the efficacy of the allopathic medicines in treating the dreaded coronavirus.
The Yoga guru also heads the Patanjali group which, among other products, manufactures Ayurvedic medicines and had courted controversy following the launch, last year, of a concoction of herbs which supposedly builds immunity against COVID-19.
The Indian Medical Association has been up in arms against Ramdev over his recent diatribe and its Uttarakhand chapter has sued him.