Confident and absolutely certain now that yoga guru Ramdev’s agitation against black money is backed by the RSS and its frontal organisations, and aimed at enhancing the BJP’s electoral prospects, the UPA government has decided to hit back with an aggressive campaign on the issue of black money.
Highly placed government sources said that within hours of BJP president Nitin Gadkari and NDA convenor Sharad Yadav sharing the dais with Ramdev at the Ramlila Ground on Monday morning, the government decided to launch a counter-offensive on Ramdev’s favourite subject.
Government agencies, including the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Financial Intelligence Unit, DRI and income-tax authorities, were directed to compile details on steps initiated by them to curb black money.
“After Mr Gadkari and Mr Yadav went to the Ramlila Grounds this morning there is no doubt left that this is entirely a political movement aimed at helping the BJP. Thus, the Congress and the government too have to launch a counter-offensive,” a senior government official said.
Sources said the government plans to expose the BJP with a comparative analysis on what it has done to check black money as compared to the NDA. Government sources said they were aware that Ramdev had touched a chord with the common people by raising a populist issue like black money and that no political party could dare oppose it.
But the UPA’s counter-strategy is not just to expose Ramdev’s links with the RSS and its affiliated outfits, but to show that it is treating the issue with all seriousness.
The initiatives, sources added, to be spelt out by various agencies, will be different from those spelt out in the White Paper tabled in Parliament by the then finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee.
Government crisis managers anticipate that the BJP will rake up the issue during Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in November this year. Sources claim the UPA will have its strategy well in place by then.
The government will also launch a frontal attack on Ramdev, asking him to clear his tax cases first. The arrest of Ramdev’s aide, Balkishan, on charges of cheating and forgery, will also be brought up.