New Delhi, February 24: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday came to the defence of yoga guru Baba Ramdev on the issue of black money, saying that the Congress was targeting him to deflect attention from its own government’s failure to check the problem.
“Manmohan Singh’s promises on the black money issue have fallen flat. The yoga guru had raised the black money issue. The Congress believes in attack as the best form of defence,” Naidu said.
Naidu was reacting to Congress leader Digvijay Singh’s criticism of Baba Ramdev. Singh had said that Ramdev must prove he doesn’t hold any black money before launching a movement on the issue.
“The UPA govt is very serious about investigating black money. Baba Ramdev is a respectable person but he’s only blaming the Congress. Whenever he takes charity, he should ensure that it’s not black money,” he said.
BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain too targeted Singh, saying: “When the BJP raised the issue of black money, Digvijay attacked us and now he’s going after Baba Ramdev. Digvijay goes wherever he finds publicity.”
Digvijay, however, found support from Congress MP P.L. Punia. “There should be a probe into how Ramdev got so much wealth that he is opening ashrams across the world. The income tax department and Enforcement Directorate should look into this,” Punia demanded.
Baba Ramdev had recently accused the UPA government of inaction on recovering black money.
–Agencies–