The BJP and Samajwadi Party have strongly criticised the Congress-led UPA government for its crackdown on yoga guru Baba Ramdev.
While the BJP asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to step down from office owning moral responsibility for the unwarranted action on Baba Ramdev and his supporters, the SP termed the Congress the “biggest thug”. In separate press conferences held here on Sunday, the two parties said that Emergency-like situation was developing in the country, with the Central government curbing the right to expression.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari said that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should apologise to the nation for the crackdown on Baba Ramdev and his supporters. “Baba Ramdev’s programme was democratic, peaceful and completely non-violent. The crackdown by the government shows that it has become extremely intolerant and is followed the path that the Congress followed just before Emergency. The incident reveals the fascist attitude of the Congress while the incident is reminiscent of Jallianwala Bagh,” he said.
SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav, in an obvious reference to Mr Digvijay Singh, said it was unfortunate some Congress leaders had called Ramdev a “thug”. “The Congress is the biggest thug of them all and the party high command should teach some manners and etiquette to her party leaders... If the Baba is a thug, why is the Congress getting so unnerved?”