Ramdev to end fast, stir against Congress
Yog Guru Baba Ramdev latest protest against corruption ended today on the sixth day of protest on
Tuesday against blackmoney and declared that he will launch a big
movement against Congress before the Lok Sabha elections.
Ramdev was taken into custody on fifth day along with hundreds of supporters who took an anti-Congress turn in their march towards Parliament. On a day of high drama and after
BJP and JD(U) leaders offered their support, Ramdev, who had been
dilly-dallying for the past three days on his strategy, asked his
thousands of supporters to march towards Parliament, three km away from
the protest venue at Ramlila Maidan, for a dharna outside.“Congress hatao, desh bachao” (Remove Congress, Save the country) was the slogan Ramdev gave in his address and later in the march that discarded any semblance of neutrality in the campaign against corruption mounted by him.
He had been claiming that his protest had no political agenda but intended to fight corruption.
As they started the march, police took Ramdev, who was on fast for the past five days, and his supporters into custody on charges of violating prohibitory orders for being taken to a makeshift jail in Bawana in the city’s outskirts.
After
his staying put at Ambedkar Stadium throughout the night refusing to vacate
it, Ramdev told his supporters that he "is acceding to the appeal of
his supporters and is calling off the fast but the movement will
continue."
"I
had earlier said that I will end my fast in Jail. This stadium is a
makeshift jail. I had said will call off my fast only after my
supporters get food and water. Late in the night, they were provided
with food and water," Ramdev said on Tuesday morning.
"They
have appealed to me to end the fast at 11:00 AM," Ramdev said,
addressing his supporters on Tuesday morning.He also said there will a
big movement against Congress ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections.Yoga
guru said history will be created today and he will announce his next
course of action before noon.Ramdev went around the Ambedkar Stadium
meeting his supporters who had gathered there since Monday evening.
Ramdev held an early morning strategy session with his close aides to fine tune the future course of his protest.He
had on Monday night rejected an appeal by police to vacate the stadium
flagging concerns ahead of Independence Day as the facility was near Red
Fort where the nation’s celebrations will take place.
The
Yoga guru had adopted a vigorous stand in his protest against
blackmoney and was arrested during a march to Parliament but late in the
night he refused to quit the stadium from where he and his few thousand
supporters were released.His
protest fast was marked by dilly-dallying over the last three days as
he deferred announcing his strategy in the face of central government's
total indifference to his agitation against corruption
