Hectic parleys were on between Ramdev and the Union ministers, Mr Kapil Sibal and Mr Subodh Kant Sahay on Saturday night. The Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, was also involved in the process, though he did not directly speak to Baba Ramdev. It was being claimed that even as government sent another letter to Ramdev, stating action would be taken on the black money issue around 11 pm, the yoga guru gave no indication of relenting, sources said. The dye was cast and the government, particularly the home ministry, signalled the operation, sources said.
After Baba Ramdev refused to break his fast on Saturday noon, the Congress took the lead to signal change of stance. Senior party leaders and spokesmen began targeting Ramdev. While AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh had kept attacking Ramdev, the Congress official reaction came through the party spokesman — Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The Congress questioned Ramdev’s motive behind launching an agitation and also wanted to know the sources of his funds for the grand show at Ramlila Maidan. On Sunday, Digvijay Singh continued with his attack and described Ramdev as “another face of RSS and BJP.”
The government and the party continued to wait for a signal from Ramdev, which never came. Then around 5 pm, Ramdev and Mr Sibal had another round of telephonic conversation. While he wondered why Ramdev did not “fulfil his commitment,” the yoga guru wanted another “written commitment from government on its moves to bring back black money.”
Mr Sibal cautioned Ramdev that he would reveal his letter in the press conference, in which the yoga guru had committed to strike a deal with the government. The exposure angered Ramdev camp, which then decided to intensify the agitation. Intelligence reports had also started trickling that the RSS and BJP had already taken charge of the agitation and were all set to use Ramdev for their political mileage.