Who said Anna’s protest was successful?: Baba Ramdev

New Delhi: Now that crusader Anna Hazare is back home in Ralegan Siddhi, the original rabble rouser of Ramlila Maidan, yoga teacher Baba Ramdev is hoping to be the encore act. Lest he be accused of being a copy cat, Ramdev questioned the success of the Anna Hazare-led 12-day protest. “Who said Anna’s protest was successful? The government has fooled him twice”, said Ramdev.

He announced a “Bharat Swabhiman Yatra” from Jhansi commencing on 20th September 2011. Ramdev said he reached out to TV audiences of over 100 crore and had met over 10 crore people in his efforts to promote yoga and Indian values. The anti-black money yatra, “will travel throughout the nation till ‘Baba’ is alive,” said Ramdev. He, however, continued to express “full support for Anna Hazare and the Jan Lokpal Bill”, but denied that he had launched the yatra to bask in the reflected glory of Hazare’s successful protest in Delhi.

When questioned regarding his political motives he said: “You don’t need to be in the Parliament to change the system”. He also denied that a case has been filed against him and his wellness Trusts by the Enforcement Directorate. He said the government was conspiring against him.

Ramdev drove home the point that his crusade was to bring black money stashed overseas back to India. He said he was waging a war on the corrupt practices of the nation. “Rs 400 lakh crore worth of black money is the issue here,” he said. Calling himself an “aam admi” brought up in an “unpadh gaon (illiterate village)”, he stressed that he was not representing himself but 121 Crore Indians.

Not restricting his cause to ‘bringing black money back’, Ramdev said that it should become an international agenda. The Enforcement Directorate, on Thursday, registered a case against the Baba for financial irregularities to the tune of many crores under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). “I cannot comment on that, Ram Jethmalani is answering for me in court,” he said.

Ramdev reportedly received Rs 7 crore from Britain, regarding which the case has been registered under FEMA based on a report submitted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and inputs from British authorities. Details related to Ramdev’s Haridwar-based trusts Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, Bharat Swabhiman Trust and the Divya Yoga Mandir Trust and his castle on Scotland’s ‘The Little Cumbrae Island’ are also being investigated.