Ramdev, the peacemaker

The Yoga guru united the beleaguered party's top leadership

What the top leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and RSS leaders couldn't do for the party, Baba Ramdev has managed. After the midnight police swoop on the Yoga guru at Ramlila Maidan on the wee hours of Sunday, leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her counterpart in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, who have frequently been reported as being at loggerheads, surprisingly held a joint press conference supporting Baba and hurled their joint attack on the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.


Same company: BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj
addressing a press conference after the crackdown on Ramdev and
his supporters. Pic/Rajeev Tyagi

And the duo not only addressed a joint press conference, but also after the conference, joined for tea at Jaitley's official residence, 9 Ashoka Road, adjacent to 11 Ashoka Road, the BJP headquarters. "The tea party was not scheduled. In fact, Jaitley had some engagement just after the press conference and both leaders were leaving the office. But BJP Rajya Sabha MP SS Ahluwalia insisted that Swaraj have a cup of tea at Jaitley's place. Jaitley also postponed his engagement and both leaders had tea," said a source in the BJP office.

Together, finally
Later, during the 24-hour satyagraha at Rajghat against government action on Baba Ramdev and its supporters at Ramlila Maidan, both the leaders were seen sitting together for hours and talking to each other from time to time. Even the cameramen of news channels and photographers kept waiting for the moment when their
differences would be visible. But, in vain.

"Both leaders were seen together in National Executive meeting at Lucknow. They attended the core group meeting and formed the strategy. But, it is too early to draw any conclusion about their relationships. It can be for the time being," said a senior BJP leader requesting anonymity.

It may be recalled that recently Sushma Swaraj had denied being the political mentor of the controversial Reddy brothers of Bellary, even giving an interview to a weekly magazine that the mining magnets facing serious charges owe their political profile to Arun Jaitley, Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and other party colleagues. The episode had reinforced the perception of a cold war between her and Jaitley.

Internal rifts
In fact, in an interview, Swaraj had talked of infighting in the BJP even as she fought shy of admitting it clearly. "I do not want to believe there are people in the party who are against me," Swaraj had said, but added, "There are people who are jealous of you. People who cannot see you growing." "There was a vaccum of
leadership in the BJP because of the internal infighting between its senior leaders. But such situations cannot last long. This is the situation when persons like Anna Hazzare and Baba Ramdev come on centerstage and people make them larger than life. The BJP leaders possibly have realised it," said Yashwant Deshmukh, political analyst.

"It can also be because of the fear of RSS, who had supported the agitation of Baba. In fact, it was the failure of the Opposition that people have shown trust in Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev. They must have thought that the PM candidate may be decided later. If they won't unite, someone will take their place," Deshmukh added.

However, BJP MP and spokesperson Shahnawaj Hussain told MiD DAY, "Neither there was any differences, nor there is any differences, nor there will any differences between the two leaders. Both share very good relationships. It is the Congress which confuses the people."