BJP demands emergency session

As the BJP persisted with its Rajghat dharna and a nationwide offensive against the Congress,one could discern a clear design by the party not to build up Baba Ramdev.

As the BJP persisted with its Rajghat dharna and a nationwide offensive against the Congress on Monday,one could discern a clear design by the party not to build up Baba Ramdev and,instead,keep the focus on the police action against his followers.

Whether it was the NDA memorandum to the President for convening an emergency session of Parliament to discuss the issue or statements of senior party leaders,the BJP could be seen taking care to not give any impression that it held any brief for the Baba.

The BJP clearly wanted to use the opportunity to corner the Congress over the issue of democratic rights of people,but apparently had no intention to boost the image of Ramdev.

This sense of caution stemmed from Ramdevs stated intention to float a party. Obviously,any such outfit would have the potential to undermine the BJPs prospects. The risk would be immediate in Uttarakhand where the Baba is headquartered which is scheduled to go to the polls soon. Naturally,it was not inclined to first strengthen him and then fight him.

Therefore,even while the Congress tried hard to engage the BJP by alleging that the Baba had been propped up by the RSS,the Parivar did not return the fire. Even the RSS did not join issue with AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh. This enabled the BJP to find itself on the same page as most other parties.

Sticking to the line,senior BJP leader L K Advani led a delegation of party colleagues and representatives of other NDA constituents to the Rashtrapati Bhawan to petition Pratibha Patil to summon a special session of Parliament. The Opposition alliance wanted to compel the government to explain its brutal action against demonstrators and apologise for this attack on civil liberties and democratic rights. It also wanted to bring forward a resolution declaring all Indian money stashed away in foreign banks as national wealth. The memorandum was signed,apart from Advani,by Leaders of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj Lok Sabha and Arun Jaitley Rajya Sabha,Murli Manohar Joshi,Rajnath Singh,JDU leader Ram Sundar Das,Shiv Sena MP Bharat Kumar Raut and Akali Dal MP Naresh Gujral.

Top party leaders visited the Rajghat to end a 24-hour fast against the midnight evacuation of Ramdev. I talked to Baba,who told me he has resumed his fast. He told me why he had to dress up in a womans clothes: the police had torn up his clothes,and he had to get one from a supporter, said party chief Nitin Gadkari.