'The question of nepotism was raised by the media and not me. When I was asked about it, I said that though we have played a role in the Jan Lokpal Bill movement, we had no say in the formation of the committee,' Ramdev said.
After raising the issue of nepotism in the newly-appointed joint committee on Lokpal Bill, yoga guru Baba Ramdev today backtracked saying that he had no problem with inclusion of father-son duo Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in the drafting panel.
"The question of nepotism was raised by the media and not me. When I was asked about it, I said that though we have played a role in the Jan Lokpal Bill movement, we had no say in the formation of the committee," Ramdev said.
"I do not have a problem with inclusion of Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in the panel. We trust Annaji's (Anna Hazare's) judgement on the matter. I only said volunteers wanted Kiran Bedi on the panel," he said.
Ramdev, who had joined the agitation which led to the government agreeing to form a joint committee with civil, society representatives to draft Lokpal Bill,had objected to the inclusion of the Bhushans, both lawyers, in the panel, alleging it showed nepotism. "Why is there nepotism in the committee? Why both father and son are accommodated in the committee?" Ramdev had asked.
Bedi, a former IPS officer, said she did not want to be part of the panel at all and wanted the experts to do their job.
"This is an A-plus team. Only those people can be part of this committee who know the government's functioning and can help in making a law that will look into all aspects of fighting large-scale corruption," Bedi said.
In a bid to assuage Ramdev, Hazare today said he will talk to the yoga guru as at this juncture, it is important to take the country together to fight corruption.
"I will request him (Ramdev) not to think like that. We will all take the country ahead together. There is love for the country inside him. I will tell him not to think of a person or individual and only keep the country in mind," the 73-year-old activist, who ended his 98-hour-long fast yesterday, said.
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