Cong steers clear of midnight crackdown on Ramdev

Congress on Sunday steered clear of the midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdev's hunger strike, but decided to meet the challenge posed by communal forces which have been repeatedly defeated in the elections.

Congress on Sunday steered clear of the midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdev's hunger strike, but decided to meet the challenge posed by communal forces which have been repeatedly defeated in the elections.

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After a lengthy meeting at Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's residence, party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi sidestepped questions whether the party endorsed the police action last night.

"That has already been explained by the Government," he said to repeated questions on the issue.

"We do not discuss individuals. We do not take note of individuals. The person mentioned is nothing (of no significance) and is supported by other forces," Dwivedi said.

The AICC maintaining virtual silence on the issue was significant given the fact that it had distanced itself from four senior ministers led by Pranab Mukherjee going to the airport on June one to meet Ramdev.

Union minister Kapil Sibal, who had held negotiations with the yoga guru, was present at the deliberations. Earlier in the day, Sibal had a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as also finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

In an obvious attack on the BJP, Dwivedi said there are certain political and communal forces in the country, who after failing to get popular mandate, try to spread rumours among people to promote themselves.

He said these forces were bent upon shortcircuiting their rise by weakening constitutional and democratic institutions and they do not bother whether the country's democratic structure is damaged.