Ramlila verdict: BJP slams Centre, Congress blames organisers

The Supreme Court rap on the Delhi government in the Ramdev case gave fresh ammunition to BJP today to target the Centre over the midnight crackdown on the Yoga guru's supporters at Ramlila grounds, saying there should be "political accountability".

The Congress on its part put the blame on the organisers for the incident in June last year. "There was a commotion and the shortcomings(of the organisers) probably provoked the police to come and control the situation," Union minister and Congress leader Ambika Soni said in her initial reaction.

The BJP however disagreed with the Supreme Court for holding Ramdev responsible for "contributory negligence".

Top lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who appeared for Ramdev in the Supreme Court in the case, demanded the resignation of Home Minister P Chidambaram, holding him responsible for the police action.

BJP maintained that Delhi police alone should not be held guilty for the "human rights violations" as it was "acting at the behest of their bosses in the central government, namely, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union ministers Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal.

"Such an attack on peaceful supporters of Ramdev would not have been possible without political clearance at a very high level. The policemen have suffered but what about political accountability?" BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

He alleged that not only Chidambaram and Sibal were "accountable and responsible" for the incident but also Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister.

"(That is)...because her party and the government have sustained a campaign against Ramdev, Anna Hazare and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar," Prasad alleged.

Another BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the party did not agree with the view of the apex court on Ramdev's conduct.

"Only if the crowd had been violent could Ramdev be held responsible. The organiser of the agitation cannot be held equally responsible. Then by the same measure, Mahatma Gandhi would be held equally responsible for the atrocities of the British during the freedom struggle,"he added.