Unfazed by the attack from various quarters, the Congress party on Sunday justified the midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdev's fast against corruption and accused him of "inciting people" despite striking a deal with the government to end his protest.
Terming the yoga guru as a "fraud", All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijaya Singh also demanded an inquiry into the "thousands of crores of rupees" of property owned by Ramdev.
Singh, a bitter critic of Ramdev, demanded an inquiry into the income tax exemption granted to the yoga guru, who is also into the business of manufacturing ayurvedic medicine.
"The Congress has nothing to do with this (action). It has been done by the local administration," Singh said in the first reaction from the Congress on the police action.
The police action against Ramdev and his supporters drew sharp criticism from various quarters. Civil society activists termed the action as "inhuman", with eminent lawyer and former law minister Shanti Bhushan demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation.
Digvijaya Singh also claimed that Ramdev's fast was an "out-and-out Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affair." "From day one, it was inspired and engineered by the RSS which wanted to divert the attention of the people from its terror activities that have come to light," he said.
"Don't bring any politics into this. The kind of treatment needed to be meted out to a fraud has been meted out to him," Singh said.
The government had earlier "compromised its position" as it wanted to dissuade the yoga guru from undertaking the "unnecessary fast" and had therefore sent its senior ministers including Pranab Mukherjee to him.
"From 1994 to 2011, whatever this fraud has done, there should be a thorough probe," Singh said. The government's handling of the situation was "most sensitive and in the interest of the people of the country," he said.
Going all out against Ramdev, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said, "He is a fraud. He strikes a deal with the government at the Claridges Hotel, but incites people at the Ramleela maidan."
He maintained that whatever action has been taken by the local administration was in the "interest of the people". "Delhi is the country's capital. You cannot allow Ramdev to run riot in Delhi. He took the Ramleela maidan to carry out a yogic shibir. There was no yoga. He (utilised it) to agitate to incite people," he said.
Singh said certain laws and regulations and directions of the Supreme Court with regard to agitations needed to be followed.
Coming down heavily on the Baba, Singh alleged that Ramdev had played fraud on everyone, from his guru Karam Vir to his disciples and followers as also on the people.
"The Baba was attempting to play fraud on the government" through the fast despite the fact that it had held talks with him on the issue of corruption, he said, adding that the yoga guru tried to mislead the media too.
Suggesting that the Baba was hand-in-glove with the RSS and the BJP, he wondered why the yoga guru fails to talk about corruption in BJP-ruled states.
Singh also drew attention to the issues of adulterated substances allegedly used in ayurvedic preparations brought out by Baba Ramdev, an issue which he said was raised by Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Brinda Karat earlier.
