In a departure from its earlier stand, the Uttarakhand government on Saturday appealed to yoga guru Baba Ramdev to call off his fast.

The Congress’ campaign against the BJP and the Sangh Parivar for their “double talk” on the issue of corruption and support to civil rights activist Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev will begin from Sunday.

The Congress in Uttar Pradesh will use Mr Rahul Gandhi’s birthday on June 19 to reconnect with farmers in the state. The party has decided to celebrate the day as Kisan Adhikar Diwas (Farmers’ Rights Day).

A showdown between Hindu religious groups and the J&K government over the annual Amarnath pilgrimage appears imminent. Ignoring chief minister Omar Abdullah’s directive, the Hindu groups have resolved to go ahead with their plan to start the pilgrimage on June 15, a fortnight prior to the scheduled date of June 29.

Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Saturday termed Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev’s campaign against corruption a “circus in Jantar Mantar and Ramlila Grounds” but was critical of the way the UPA government handled the recent events.

The Congress high command has not made up its mind whether or not to replace the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee chief Kripashankar Singh ahead of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation elections.
Besides, it has not taken any decision on the offer of resignations by the Bihar and Tamil Nadu Congress presidents.

Giving a new twist to the raging debate over the Lokpal Bill, Union law and justice minister M. Veerappa Moily on Saturday said the proposed piece of legislation was, in fact, an ambitious dream of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Fasting yoga guru Baba Ramdev continued to get politically isolated with RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav describing him as a “trainer not a yogi.” Earlier, the DMK too had slammed the hi-flying yoga guru while the AIADMK has maintained a stoic silence over his so-called anti-corruption crusade.

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev broke his fast here on Sunday, nine days after he went on with his fast against corruption, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said.

A Delhi district consumer forum has slapped a fine of `25,000 on the city’s power distribution firm, BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, for raising an inflated electricity bill of `1.17 lakh against an user and lodging a false power theft case against him.