Her fiery speeches in the early 1990s were very fairly popular across the length and breadth of North India and Bihar. One such person who did this rather successfully for a brief period was Sadhvi Rithambara. They have been the backroom boys who have rarely come out in the open to take on the government of the day head on.īut there are always exceptions that prove the rule. So babas and religious gurus have always been close to Indian politicians and politics. His trust being a publically charitable trust did not pay any income tax. Several politicians were known to be close to the Satya Sai Baba as well. Indira Gandhi ensured that Dhirendra Bramhachari had a weekly show on Doordarshan to promote the benefits of yoga. Like Singh, the various politicians took care of their respective gurus. The act promoted a Hindi daily to run the headline, ‘ Jab Baba bolte nahin, to do telephone kyun?’ As Union Communications Minister, Singh had given the guru two telephone connections. The guru, who had taken a vow of silence, reached Delhi and shut himself off to conduct various yagnas for his health. His spiritual guru, Mauni Baba of Ujjain, took credit for the miracle. Mauni Baba even took credit for Arjun Singh surviving a massive heart attack in 1989.Īs Rashid Kidwai writes in 24 Akbar Road – A Short History Behind the Fall and the Rise of the Congress “The doctors at Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal had almost given up on him( Arjun Singh) when a call from Rajiv Gandhi ensured a timely airlift to Delhi’s Escort Heart Institute. Long time Gandhi family loyalist Arjun Singh was known to be close to the Mauni Baba of Ujjain. Chandraswami was known to be close to PV Narsimha Rao. Dhirendra Bramhachari was known to be close to Indira Gandhi. So the question that arises now is that will he succeed at what he is trying to do or will he just be a flash in the pan and disappear from the limelight in a couple of years?īabas and religious gurus have always been an essential part of the Indian political system. He may not even contest any elections but by asking people not to vote for the Congress he has more or less signaled his entry into politics. In that context, I am not surprised at Baba’s decision to take the Congress party led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government head on and ask his supporters not to vote for the Congress in the coming elections.īaba Ramdev may not form his own party in the days to come.
But the commentary that accompanied those aasanas had gradually become more and more political. The aasanas that Baba showed over that period remained more or less the same. I had been following Baba Ramdev’s early morning yoga classes on television regularly for almost six months in a bid to control my ever expanding waistline. “He just wants us to be healthy,” was her reply. My aunt, who recently retired after nearly four decades of teaching in the Kendriya Vidyalaya system of schools, wouldn’t agree with me. Some two and a half years back I had told an aunt of mine that Baba Ramdev was getting ready to enter politics.
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