Baba Ramdev Vs Anna Hazare: A Quick Guide about the similarities and differences

At first glance, Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare are as different as chalk and cheese. One is a yoga practitioner while the other is a social activist. One sports a ferocious beard, commands his 46-year-old supple body into wicked poses and wears bright saffron loincloth. The other is a frail, clean-shaven septuagenarian who won’t be caught dead in anything but white khadi.

They also disagree on the scope of the Lok Pal Bill. That’s where the differences end. The similarities are multiple. To list some, the two are united in their fight against graft, share a passion for political activism, have a huge following and have taken controversial stands on issues. Here is a look at the two men who are dominating headlines and negotiating with the government.


PET PEEVES
Baba Ramdev owns a Scottish manor, but in many ways, he is a throwback to the yogis of Old India. He wants a ban on English. He frowns on Coca-Cola. He abhors Western outfits. The WHO, to him, is a western conspiracy. He is a bachelor who cannot tolerate homosexuals. He has also taken aim at `500 and `1,000 notes, saying they are a cause of graft.

Anna, a teetotaller, has banned tobacco, cigarettes and bidis in his village, Ralegan Siddhi near Pune. He also chafes at alcohol use. The villagers also do without cable TV, another of Anna’s dislikes. The people of Ralegan Siddhi are vegetarian converts. Anna also hates big families: to cut them to size, the men in the village undergo vasectomy.


EASY SOLUTIONS
Baba wants to cut off the hands of those guilty of corruption. As if that is not enough, he also favours hanging until death perpetrators of graft.

Surprise, surprise! Hanging is a solution dear to Anna too. Erring villagers are also flogged publicly in Ralegan Siddhi. Never mind that one calls himself a yogi and the other, a Gandhian.


PULLING A ‘FAST’ ONE
Baba has long been shouting hoarse about black money. But Anna’s Big Fast in April had snatched the issue from right
under his feet. Baba’s rants were beginning to sound like a broken record. His fast has propelled his cause back into relevance.

Anna has used hunger strikes to push his causes for more than four decades. The Jantar Mantar act in April was a blockbuster event, with fans, the media and politicians descending to pay obeisance.


WHAT NEXT
Both men have kept everyone guessing about their entry into politics. Swathes of followers are a temptation. But chances are they will not. Say, if Nitin Gadkari — though difficult, try imagining the BJP chief on a fast — begins a protest, will the government give in? That should answer if Anna and Baba
will float a political party.