Cong charges Ramdev for rebellion by party MLAs in Uttarakhand

The political crisis in Uttarakhand took a new turn with the Congress dragging Ramdev into the picture accusing him of "hatching" a plot jointly with BJP leadership to topple the state government but the yoga guru today refuted the charge.

Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress President Kishore Upadhyay created a flutter in political circles here yesterday by alleging that the yoga guru and BJP chief Amit Shah had hatched a conspiracy together to dislodge the state government and the rebellion against Harish Rawat by the party’s MLAs was a result of this.

Claiming that he had enough evidence to substantiate his charge, Upadhyay said, "Ramdev was in touch with Congress rebels and is one of the key persons besides the BJP President involved in hatching a conspiracy against the ruling party.

"He(Ramdev) worked like a BJP agent to foment a rebellion against the state government and topple it."

Upadhyay claimed that Ramdev was in touch with the nine rebel Congress MLAs before March 18 when the crisis erupted in the state Assembly during a vote on the appropriation bill on the state’s annual budget.

However, taking cognisance of newspaper reports in this regard, Ramdev said he was unnecessarily being dragged into the ongoing political turmoil in the state despite the fact that he had nothing to do with it.

"I read in the newspapers that Ramdev and Amit Shah together conspired to topple the state government.

"Not even in my dream did I have a talk with any Congress MLA or party worker. Whatever we do, we do it openly.

"If we have to make or break something we do it openly we don’t do anything with a hidden agenda behind the curtains," Ramdev told reporters in Haridwar when asked to comment on the charges levelled against him.

"We have no role to play in this matter. Political parties are responsible for political incidents," he said.

Reacting to this, Pradesh Congress chief spokesman Mathuradutt Joshi said no amount of clarification on part of the yoga guru can absolve him of his role in the political crisis in Uttarakhand.

"The yoga guru runs a business empire worth nearly Rs 2000 crore in Uttarakhand and there are a number of cases under investigation against his trust. He has many scores to settle with the state government. The involvement of Ramdev and the top BJP leadership in the ongoing rebellion is direct," Joshi claimed.