Congress puts up brave face as BJP joins Baba wagon

Agencies

Posted: Jun 02, 2011 at 1856 hrs IST

New Delhi, Lucknow As the countdown to Babha Ramdev's fast shrinks, the Congress went into a huddle on Thursday discussing ways to mitigate the situation even as the BJP declared their support for the impending agitation.

The top Congress leadership, including Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, met to discuss the yoga guru's proposed hunger strike from Saturday though back-channel efforts were underway to persuade him not to go ahead with his protest.

As Ramdev remained adamant on undertaking the fast, the Congress Core Group discussed ways to defuse the situation and prevent the recurrence of events that unfolded when civil activist Anna Hazare went on fast-unto-death in April.

Meanwhile, speaking in Lucknow, BJP President Nitin Gadkari said the Centre's “reluctance” to release names of people who have wealth abroad is due to the fear of losing face.

“We have already written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding names whose black money is stashed in foreign banks and we support Baba Ramdev's campaign on this count,” Gadkari said after inaugurating an exhibition of 100 “scams” of the Uttar Pradesh government at the party national working committee in Lucknow.

On the two-day working committee meeting, Gadkari said a vision document on the party's “long-term plans for development and good administration for Uttar Pradesh by eradicting fear, hunger and corruption” would be presented.

Gadkari maintained the issue of black money was first raised by senior BJP leader L K Advani.

“Black money generated through the evasion of octroi duty, sales tax and Income Tax is going into foreign banks. Baba Ramdev's movement has our full support. In fact, I had earlier written to the Prime Minister on this issue. India has still not ratified the UN convention against corruption even after smaller countries like Phillipines have done so,” he said.

However, BJP leaders conceded in private that some of the issues being raised by Ramdev like hanging of the highly corrupt are controversial and the party is not in agreement with these issues.

“The issue he has raised is important for the BJP. It will definitely find mention in our resolution,” Gadkari said.

BJP will pass a resolution tomorrow on price rise, corruption and black money.

“In the on-going movie on corruption, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are the producer and director,” he alleged.

He took swipes at the Prime Minister, saying each time a scandal takes place in his government, he says he is not aware of it.

“Even on the ISRO-Devas deal, he had said he did not know,” Gadkari said.

Earlier, BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “We will support anybody who campaigns against corruption. We are not like Congress leaders who garland him in public but issue threats through their people.”

Meanwhile in Delhi, the Congress meeting was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Defence Minister A K Antony, sources said.

The Congress put up a brave face on Thursday, saying efforts to defuse the situation should not be seen as a weakness.

"As a responsive and sensitive government, we are engaging constructively to find real and practical solutions in national interest. This should not be mistaken as a sign of weakness or fear," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.

Apparently nervous of Ramdev's threat, the government yesterday took an extraordinary step of sending four senior ministers, including Mukherjee, to the Delhi airport to receive Ramdev and talk to him there.