Bangalore, May 22: “India was a leader in every field until corruption set in. It can now win a Nobel prize in corruption,” said yoga rishi Baba Ramdev during a press conference in Bangalore on Friday, announcing his political interests.
Popular for his yoga sessions, the spiritual guru is now nursing political ambitions. He doesn’t mind joining forces with an existing party, provided it is cleaned of corrupt babus, he said.
The swami runs a spiritual and social organisation, Bharat Swabhiman Trust, and is now looking to enter politics with the main agenda to fight corruption.
“I don’t mind supporting any particular political party only if it agrees with my conditions one hundred per cent and removes all its members with criminal records,” he said while speaking a press conference on Friday announcing the recent launch of Bharat Swabhiman Movement. He said that the Trust, when converted into a political party, would fight corruption “especially money that goes out of India as black money.
We have approached the Reserve Bank of India to stop printing notes of huge amounts like Rs500 and Rs1,000, and take back those notes that have been already printed”.
He claimed that he had evidence that $1.63 trillion was being deposited in banks outside India as black money ever year, and said even the World Bank statistics substantiated this.
He said the Trust would help provide adequate water for irrigation by installing rain water harvesting systems, would enhance industrialisation to solve unemployment issues, and provide free education in Indian languages.
His Trust has members spread across the nook and corner of the country, who would encourage people to join Baba Ramdev and make his vision of a corruption-free India become a reality. People from across sections of the society are welcome to join the Trust.
Baba Ramdev will address the public during the Bharat Swabhiman Udbhodhan Taluk programme on May 24, from 11 am to 12.30 pm at the Bhagat Singh Play Ground, Doddaballapur, and from 5 pm to 6.30 pm at the Mahatma Gandhi Play Ground in Tumkur.
–Agencies–