HARIDWAR/NATION: They will be back. Jantar Mantar and Ramlila Maidan were trailers, it seems, for both Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev, who are preparing to march on Delhi again.
Come July 26, Baba Ramdev plans to be in the Capital as a prelude to the second chapter of his crusade against black money. Far from done after the rather ignominious end to his Ramlila Maidan protest and the tame hospital end to his fast only nine days after he began it, the Baba is combative. Try, he challenges those who snicker about his fast. “Nau din mein naani yaad aayegi (In nine days, you’ll remember your ancestors).”
Now safely ensconced at Yog Gram—his idyllic retreat near Haridwar, for the first time since the Ram Lila fiasco on June 4, Ramdev says he’s only just begun. “I will not stop, my strategy is very clear,” he says. “Stabilise India politically, spiritually and lawfully. Bring about a political change using lawful methods.”
And he’s not shutting shop either—regular yoga camps resume on July 1 at Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar. How will that help to bring back black money? “Yoga and spirituality is our base,” says the saffron activist. “It will transform society and politics. Black money will come back.” The guru says there have been anti-corruption movements, but no one has put black money on the national agenda yet.
Some 270 miles from Haridwar, the baba’s defiance resonates among the civil activists seeking a Lokpal for the nation. “We’ll work at multiple levels until August 16,” says RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, Anna Hazare’s public voice. Are they working closely with Ramdev? “Communication lines are open,” says Kejriwal. “His people are in constant touch with us.”
While Baba Ramdev had already completed a nine-month whirlwind tour to mobilise followers, Team Hazare plans to “go to the people in an organised fashion” from next month. Kejriwal says they will invite 50 activists from each State on July 5-6 and brief them on the campaign and agenda. These activists will then mobilise their own volunteers to undertake yatras in their State—making it a countrywide movement. Hazare will go from State to State to join the yatras and make public speeches.
Meanwhile Hazare’s core team in Delhi—Kejriwal and the Bhushans— are on an appointment spree to garner support and explain their position on the Lokpal Bill. They have met BJP leader L K Advani and CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat so far and now plan to meet the CPI’s A B Bardhan.
Down south, the group is already in touch with Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa for support.
“Many developments will take place between now and August 16, and especially after August 13, when we go for an all-party meeting,” says Kejriwal. So do they plan to spread the movement that Ramdev calls “a revolution” in tandem with the yoga guru? “Our loyalty is not towards Ramdev. It is towards his cause.”
Ramdev alleges that a conspiracy hatched between MNCs, foreign powers and sections of the Indian media is at play to sabotage the movement. He warns it would be unwise to ignore the real Bharat, which does not live in swanky cities and consume luxury goods.
Whatever be the final outcome, between July and August, a pincer movement against the political class is taking shape. “It’s not Anna versus Parliament,” insists Kejriwal. It’s going to be an interesting monsoon.