Author: Express News Service
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: June 1, 2011
URL: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Govt-holds-breath-bends-for-Ramdev/797938/
Introduction: LOKPAL Baba questions PM and
CJI inclusion; PM asks him to call off fast
Hours after Baba Ramdev spoke against bringing
the Prime Minister and higher judiciary under the ambit of the Lokpal, the
government issued a warm acknowledgement of the yoga guru's suggestions to
eliminate corruption.
At a stormy meeting of the Lokpal Bill drafting
committee yesterday, government representatives strongly opposed the Anna
Hazare-led civil society activists' demand for bringing these offices under
the Lokpal's purview. The hugely popular Ramdev is emerging as a potentially
influential power centre in the government-civil society tussle over the new
law.
"Will it be in the interest of democracy
if you make the Prime Minister, who represents 121 crore people, answerable
to a bureaucrat?" Ramdev said at a yoga camp in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh.
"If the Prime Minister and the CJI, who represent the two pillars of
our democracy, can be corrupt, so can the Lokpal."
"The Prime Minister and the Chief Justice
of India should be kept out of the purview of Lokpal because there will be
unnecessary comments made against them," Ramdev said.
In Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said
the government welcomed Ramdev's constructive suggestions. He urged the yoga
guru to call off the indefinite fast that he proposes to start from Saturday
to press his demands.
"This is not a personal issue. We all
agree with Baba Ramdev that corruption is a big problem and that we are committed
to tackling it with all the resources at our disposal," Singh said while
talking to reporters at a function at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Earlier this month, the PM had written to
Ramdev, assuring him that the government would consider his suggestions and
consult with him on the issues he had raised.
"I want to assure you that our government
shares your anxiety on these issues. We are committed to deal with the problems
of corruption, black money in our economy and illicit funds deposited in foreign
banks...We welcome your constructive suggestions to improve governance. We
are eager to work with you and members of civil society towards building a
just and prosperous India," the Prime Minister wrote. Contents of the
letter, dated May 19, were released today.
Ramdev has announced he will begin a fast
from June 4 in protest against the huge amounts of black money allegedly stashed
in foreign banks by influential people. The government recently sent some
of its top Income-Tax investigators to brief Ramdev on the issue of black
money and illicit funds abroad.
The yoga guru, who has undisguised political
ambitions, had actively supported the anti-corruption platform of Hazare and
his colleagues, but has of late been openly expressing differences of opinion
on specific issues.
However, in an interview with The Indian Express
Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta for NDTV's Walk The Talk programme, Ramdev dismissed
suggestions that he was in competition or on a collision course with Anna
Hazare. He also said that he considered Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally
honest.
