Congress leader Anil Shastri slams police crackdown at Ramlila Grounds

Senior Congress leader Anil Shastri today said the police crackdown of Baba Ramdev's agitation at Ramlila Grounds was "unfortunate and avoidable".

In a posting on microblogging site Twitter, Shastri, who is also the editor of party mouthpiece 'Congress Sandesh', said: "What happened last night at Ramlila Grounds in Delhi was unfortunate and avoidable."

He, however, maintained that it was the government and not the Congress party which had taken the decision. "It is Manmohan Singh govt. Was not a party decision (sic)," he tweeted.

Yesterday, Shastri had slammed the government's move to send four ministers to receive Baba Ramdev at the Delhi airport.

"Indira Ji or Rajiv Ji would not have sent their ministers to airport to placate a 'Baba' arriving in a private jet," he had written in a post.