Digvijay ticks off Pranab for Ramdev red carpet
The festering resentment in Congress over government's handling of Ramdev's agitation burst out in the open with Digvijay Singh publicly disapproving of Pranab Mukherjee and three other Cabinet ministers going to the airport to receive the yoga gu...
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: The festering resentment in Congress over government's handling of Baba Ramdev's agitation burst out in the open with party general secretary Digvijay Singh publicly disapproving of Pranab Mukherjee and three other Cabinet ministers going to the airport to receive the yoga guru.
"Pranab Mukherjee staked virtually his entire career going to the airport," the outspoken Congress general secretary told NDTV in the strongest-ever public criticism of government's failed attempt to engage Ramdev. Elaborating on his criticism, Singh said, "Pranab Mukherjee is government's most senior minister. He was a central minister before Ramdev was born. Why should he have to go to the airport to explain his party's position."
He further said, "I am sad and unhappy that Pranabda went to the airport."
Singh also made it clear that those in the government who thought of appeasing the yoga guru were wrong. "Let us just say I know Ramdev better than those who were talking to him. Firstly, I am not in government, but I would not have negotiated with him," said the party general secretary who is considered to be close to Rahul Gandhi.
The hard-hitting remarks were only a public confirmation of the heartburn in the party over the way the government dealt with Ramdev's challenge -- lurching from the red carpet reception for Baba at the airport to ordering a police raid within a space of three days.
Singh's statement that the government negotiators did not know Baba well enough came in response to a question why the government swung from one extreme to another.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's unhappiness was evident when she held a stock talking meeting on Sunday. Mukherjee, along with another Cabinet colleague who went to the airport, HRD minister Kapil Sibal, were present in the meeting where Rahul and other office-bearers made public their reservations over the way government sought to manage Ramdev's protest.
Although the government and party have since closed ranks to take on Ramdev and other civil society actors as well as the Sangh Parivar, Singh's interview indicates that the unhappiness over the government's handling persists.
"Pranab Mukherjee staked virtually his entire career going to the airport," the outspoken Congress general secretary told NDTV in the strongest-ever public criticism of government's failed attempt to engage Ramdev. Elaborating on his criticism, Singh said, "Pranab Mukherjee is government's most senior minister. He was a central minister before Ramdev was born. Why should he have to go to the airport to explain his party's position."
He further said, "I am sad and unhappy that Pranabda went to the airport."
Singh also made it clear that those in the government who thought of appeasing the yoga guru were wrong. "Let us just say I know Ramdev better than those who were talking to him. Firstly, I am not in government, but I would not have negotiated with him," said the party general secretary who is considered to be close to Rahul Gandhi.
The hard-hitting remarks were only a public confirmation of the heartburn in the party over the way the government dealt with Ramdev's challenge -- lurching from the red carpet reception for Baba at the airport to ordering a police raid within a space of three days.
Singh's statement that the government negotiators did not know Baba well enough came in response to a question why the government swung from one extreme to another.
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Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's unhappiness was evident when she held a stock talking meeting on Sunday. Mukherjee, along with another Cabinet colleague who went to the airport, HRD minister Kapil Sibal, were present in the meeting where Rahul and other office-bearers made public their reservations over the way government sought to manage Ramdev's protest.
Although the government and party have since closed ranks to take on Ramdev and other civil society actors as well as the Sangh Parivar, Singh's interview indicates that the unhappiness over the government's handling persists.
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