Yoga guru Ramdev was today
arrested along with his supporters when they tried to march
towards Parliament on an anti-Congress plank demanding
immediate steps to bring back black money and to protest
against corruption.
Ramdev was arrested near the Ranjit Singh flyover, about
three kms away from Parliament, under Delhi Police Act
provisions for preventive custody when he ordered thousands of
his followers to march towards Parliament House.
With Government ignoring his protest and refusing to
engage with him, Ramdev had been threatening to announce his
future strategy since Saturday.
Police had marshalled a number of buses to take away the
yoga guru and his supporters from near the Ramlila Maidan in
central Delhi, the venue of his fast protest since Thursday
after BJP President Nitin Gadkari and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav
addressed the gathering extending support to him this morning.
Addressing the gathering, Gadkari told Ramdev that he was
"not alone" in his fight and that his party had disrupted
Parliament today on the issue of black money stashed away in
foreign shores.
"Delhi Police is a puppet in the hands of the Central
Government. We will not do anything that disrupts peace. We
wanted to march towards Parliament in a peaceful manner to
make our voices heard. But they are detaining us," he told his
supporters, asking them not to court arrest.
"Our intention is not to disrupt peace. We will cooperate
with the police and go according to the law. We have respect
to the law of the land," Ramdev said, before he was taken away
by police from atop his vehicle to a bus.
As his supporters blocked the entire stretch of the flyover, Ramdev popped out of the bus window and appealed to
them to make way for the vehicle to move.
Delhi Police officials said the yoga guru and his
supporters are being taken to Bawana on the outskirts of the
capital.
Holding the national tricolour, Ramdev hopped on to a
open vehicle from outside the Ramlila Maidan and began the
march at 1:15 PM. He was soon joined by thousands of his
supporters.
"Let us start the march to Parliament. Our march is not
to gherao Parliament. But to agitate. None of our volunteers
should indulge in violence," he told his supporters before
beginning his march.
Ten minutes into the march the cavalcade was stopped by
Delhi Police near the flyover, saying that they do not have
permission to march.
Ramdev announced this morning that he and his supporters
would march towards Parliament and hold an agitation outside
the complex.
"The government has become completely deaf. We have to
make them hear us. Now our protest will be outside Parliament.
We are not talking about gherao," Ramdev said while addressing
his supporters in the morning.
"Lok Sabha polls will be in 2014 and 99 per cent could be
in 2013. This protest is to ensure that no dishonest person
enters Parliament. Such people should be boycotted. We do not
have a political agenda," he said.
Earlier, Gadkari and Yadav attacked the Congress and
supported Ramdev who asked people to throw out the UPA
government accusing it of not acting against corruption and
black money.
Gadkari pledged his party's "full support" to the yoga
guru's agitation against black money and launched a blistering
attack on the Congress-led UPA Government on issues like
corruption and black money.
