Baba Ramdev demands land acquisition reforms
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Friday took the stage meant for his anti-black money tirade here to voice support for the farmers and demanded that the antiquated land acquisition law should be scrapped.
“Not a single inch of land should be taken from the farmers without their consent,” he said, criticizing the old law at Ramlila ground, referring to farmers’ movement in Uttar Pradesh.
Followers of Baba Ramdev have started pouring in at the Ramlila Maidan of New Delhi, the venue of the yoga guru’s proposed fast-unto-death from June 4, even as the government struggles to fire-fight the crisis.
He said there should be a Kisan Ayog for the farmers.
He said his movement was impartial and not communal.
“The arrangements that you see here is not from black money. This is not a foreign company sponsored movement. This is not sponsored by Coca Cola or Pepsi,” he said ahead of his fast-unto-death.
“The tents, the ceiling fans revolving are not with money from the Swiss Bank. They are all people’s hard earned money and from their toil,” he said.
“This is not a communal or political movement. People are against corrupt and the powerful,” he said.
Much to the embarrassment of the government, the saffron groups have started lending support to the movement of Baba Ramdev with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) activists gearing up to join the fast of Ramdev who is demanding the recovery of the black money stashed away in banks abroad.
Baba Ramdev spent the night on the stage where he will undertake the fast from June 4.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has cancelled his Kolkata visit and remained engaged in diffusing the situation even as the Congress-led government has come under sharp criticism of the Congress party itself for going all out to placate the Baba.
Union Ministers Kapil Sibal and Subodh Kant Sahay would meet the Baba again Friday to convince him to call off the hungerstrike.
Lakhs have already pledged support to the yoga guru in his anti-black money movement.
