Anna v/s Baba at Freedom Park

Veteran Gandhian Doreswamy refuses to join yoga guru's followers at the fast yesterday; accuses them of being sympathetic towards the BJP and remaining silent on the graft charges against Chief Minister Yeddyurappa

A drama unfolded at Freedom Park when veteran Gandhian Doreswamy arrived with members of India Against Corruption Organisation, to voice his support for Anna Hazare, who observed a day's fast yesterday, to protest against police atrocities against protestors at Ram Leela Maidan in Delhi.

Thanks, but no thanks: A Baba Ramdev supporter tried to cajole
Doreswamy, but he rejected the invitation without a moment's
thought. Pic/Ramesh hs

As supporters of Baba Ramdev -- who were on their fifth day of fast at Freedom Park -- and Hazare supporters came face to face at the venue, a divide was quite evident. Ramdev's followers led by State President of Pathanjali Yoga Samithi, Pradeep and Swamy Divya Jnananda Swamy invited Doreswamy to join them, but he rejected the invitation without a moments thought.

He accused them of leaning towards BJP and remaining silent on the corruption charges against Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.

No explanations
Not convinced by the explanations offered by Ramdev's followers, the 92-year-old veteran continued his dharna separately in the pouring rain, while Rambev's followers camped under a waterproof pandal. "My contention is that they are silent on corruption in the state, while Karnataka is rated number one in terms of corruption. I dared them to demand the resignation of Yeddyurappa and they did not respond. Hence, I thought it is better to keep away from them," Doreswamy said.

He also voiced objection to their association with senior RSS leaders including My Cha Jayadev -- who is seen as the godfather of Yeddyurappa -- and Nagaraj. Jaydev had attended the function when the Patahanjali Yoga Samith and other Ramdev followers launched their fast last week. In addition, Nagaraj addressed the gathering with some scathing remarks against the UPA government at the centre.

Treading nimbly?
Interestingly, Hazare, whom Doreswamy is supporting, is also accused of being sympathetic towards the BJP, while he is severely criticised for not saying anything about the CM'su00a0 corruption when he visited the state earlier this month on his campaign against corruption. Congress leaders reportedly have even dubbed Hazare a staunch rightist.

"In fact, we reminded Doreswamy of this fact while saying we were not sparing Yeddyurappa indulging in corruption, but he was not convinced," said Pradeep. Reacting, Doreswamy said, "If Hazare is silent on corruption in Karnataka, we can talk to him and ask him to rectify his mistakes. But, it should not be a justification for Ramdev's followers to allow the RSS leaders to join them." "Considering Doreswamy's age, we should have not allowed him to get drenched in the rains. But, he was so stubborn and he did not cooperate with us. We had no choice other than to feel bad," Pradeep added

Sorry, not with us
Adding to the drama, former don-turned-activist Muthappa Rai, arrived at the venue with the members of his social organisation Jaya Karnataka. He wanted to join Ramdev's followers in protest, but they politely refused saying they were not interested in allowing him considering his past record. Rai staged protest separately with his followers before leaving the venue later.

'Don't mix & match'
Doreswamy, who refused to join Ramdev's followers accusing them of being BJP sympathisers, had only last month raised hackles by associating with JD(S) presidentu00a0 Deve Gowda in a campaign against illegal mining in the state. Doreswamy, in an attempt to clear the air said, "That was a different issue and we were united to fight against illegal mining. One should not mix the issues to misguide people."