The idea was to know beforehand what exactly Ramdev wanted and how far would he accommodate. But, it is learnt, Ramdev dilly-dallied his meeting with the ministers in Ujjain and straightaway landed in Delhi taking the government by surprise.
The Centre had all plans ready to deal with Baba Ramdev. But the yoga guru pulled a faster one on the government, which led to a collapse of a plan well laid by the Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs (CCPA).
Sources said that the CCPA during a meeting last week had decided that four cabinet ministers — Pranab Mukherjee, Kapil Sibal, Pawan Bansal and Subodh Kant Sahay — would go to Ujjain and engage Ramdev in talks before he landed in Delhi.
The idea was to know beforehand what exactly Ramdev wanted and how far would he accommodate. But, it is learnt, Ramdev dilly-dallied his meeting with the ministers in Ujjain and straightaway landed in Delhi taking the government by surprise, following which the ministers rushed to talk to him at the airport.
But Ramdev kept the ministers engaged in negotiations till the end. Even at Claridges Hotel, Ramdev seemed to have given an impression to the government that his fast was only symbolic and he would end it soon as agreed.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal said that government made all sincere efforts till the end to engage Ramdev. “We were talking to him all along. At the airport there was an agreement with Ramdev where he appreciated the steps taken by government,” Bansal told DNA.
“But we all along had apprehensions that at some point of time Ramdev will not be in control of the situation and other forces like the RSS and BJP will take over. We clearly told Ramdev about this,” he said.
It is learnt that the Centre had kept the orders for his eviction ready by 5pm on June 2. But they waited for Ramdev’s announcement. It was after Ritambhara was spotted and Ramdev did a U-turn that the orders were executed.
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