Worried over Baba Ramdev's indefinite fast from Saturday, the government on Wednesday took an extraordinary step to woo him by deputing Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and three other senior ministers to the airport for talks but he appeared not to relent on his plans.
In a bid to prevent a repeat of a situation that evolved when Anna Hazare-led civil society mounted a campaign against corruption in April, Mukherjee accompanied by Kapil Sibal, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Subodh Kant Sahay held talks at the T3 terminal in New Delhi with Ramdev who arrived by chartered jet from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
Ramdev, who earlier in the morning did a volte face on his Tuesday's statement that the prime minister and Chief Justice of India should be kept out of Lokpal's purview, told reporters after the meeting that the first round of talks has been positive and there will be further dialogue with the government.
"On June four there will be a satyagraha (protest fast) in Ramlila Maidan as well as in 624 districts across as crores of people want the country to be rid of black money, corruption and demand a change in system," he said.
To a question on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's appeal to him not to go ahead with his fast plans, he said "I do not believe in fear or creating fear. We have raised issues of national interest. This fight is not against any person and any party. So we are not criticising anybody."
The government virtually rolled the red carpet for the Yoga guru whose campaign will demand repatriation of all black money stashed abroad and an ordinance is issued for means to bringing it back.
The Baba said talks were "positive" and that there was agreement on some issues "but till there is 100 per cent agreement on all issues and a decisive stage is reached, the fast will go on."
"It is a big war. We have to change the system of 64 years. It is not an easy task. But we will get it done," he said. On its part the government said Ramdev raised serious national issues and dialogue with him will continue in the next couple of days.
"He (Ramdev) raised important issues which impact on the future of our country. They are significant national issues. They are limited to one or two issues. There was a broad range of issues. We prima facie responded to them," Sibal told reporters after the meeting.
"We are running a responsive government. We will take all the issues forward...These are serious issues. The government will not only think seriously but move forward," he said but declined to give details of the discussions.
Maintaining that black money and corruption were two sides of the same coin, Ramdev said that the main issues raised with the government were a strong Lokpal, a Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act that should be implemented in all the states and setting up of fast track courts to give judgements in one year with provisions for death sentence for the corrupt.
Ramdev said that black money should be declared as national assets and an ordinance should be promulgated followed by a bill to bring back the money stashed in tax heavens.
"The government has before it issues of interest both to public and the country such as corruption, black money and positive reforms of the system in a time bound manner," he said.
Ramdev said the ministers prima facie discussed the issues with seriousness. The ministers had parked themselves at the airport much before Ramdev's scheduled arrival. Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekar was also along with the ministers.
The prime minister had already gone the extra mile to persuade Ramdev not to go ahead with his hunger strike, promising him to find a "practical and pragmatic" solution to tackle the issue of corruption.
Singh had written a letter to Ramdev, "welcoming his constructive suggestions to improve governance". He also assured the yoga guru that the government was
"eager to work with you and members of civil society towards building just and prosperous India".
Informing Ramdev that Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and his officers would continue to have discussions with him on the issues that he has raised, Singh hoped in the letter that "you will now reverse your decision to go on a hunger strike unto death".
