Gadkari touches Ramdev's feet
5 Jun 2012 2:03 AM GMT
The bonhomie between the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] and yoga guru Baba Ramdev is now out in the open. In a gesture that raised a few eyebrows on Monday, BJP president Nitin Gadkari touched Ramdev's feet to seek his blessings.
'Our culture tells us that when a man wearing saffron clothes visits you, you take his blessings. I feel proud that I took Ramdev baba's blessings. It is our culture. Those who don't follow this culture may behave differently,' said Gadkari. The BJP president added that touching somebody's feet was a mark of respect and there was nothing wrong in seeking the blessings of the yoga guru.
The BJP president also made it clear that the party backs the yoga guru in his endeavours. 'Baba Ramdev's fight against black money is very important. We as the party support Baba Ramdev in this andolan. This is an agitation above party lines and it is for the benefit of the country,' said the BJP president.
The BJP president sought to know if the Congress feels Ramdev's demand for bringing black money is anti-national. Sonia Gandhi at the Congress Working Committee meeting had attacked the civil society and had said that baseless charges were being leveled against the Prime Minister, the UPA and the Congress party by the activists.
'I am very sad and it is unfortunate that on an issue of national importance such baseless allegations have been leveled for political gains,' said Gadkari, while asking the Congress president to rise above party politics. He added that the Congress president should cooperate in building an environment to fight corruption.
Earlier on the day, the yoga guru had called on Gadkari to seek his party's support in his fight to bring back black money and deal with corruption.
'Our culture tells us that when a man wearing saffron clothes visits you, you take his blessings. I feel proud that I took Ramdev baba's blessings. It is our culture. Those who don't follow this culture may behave differently,' said Gadkari. The BJP president added that touching somebody's feet was a mark of respect and there was nothing wrong in seeking the blessings of the yoga guru.
The BJP president also made it clear that the party backs the yoga guru in his endeavours. 'Baba Ramdev's fight against black money is very important. We as the party support Baba Ramdev in this andolan. This is an agitation above party lines and it is for the benefit of the country,' said the BJP president.
The BJP president sought to know if the Congress feels Ramdev's demand for bringing black money is anti-national. Sonia Gandhi at the Congress Working Committee meeting had attacked the civil society and had said that baseless charges were being leveled against the Prime Minister, the UPA and the Congress party by the activists.
'I am very sad and it is unfortunate that on an issue of national importance such baseless allegations have been leveled for political gains,' said Gadkari, while asking the Congress president to rise above party politics. He added that the Congress president should cooperate in building an environment to fight corruption.
Earlier on the day, the yoga guru had called on Gadkari to seek his party's support in his fight to bring back black money and deal with corruption.
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