NCP 'breathes' for Ramdev

The Left seems to be isolated in its tirade against yoga guru Ramdev Baba, because political parties are supporting him right and centre. And even indulging in the pranayam exercise made famous by him.

The Left seems to be isolated in its tirade against yoga guru Ramdev Baba, because political parties are supporting him right and centre. And even indulging in the pranayam exercise made famous by him.

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Maharashtra is one of many places where Ramdev has an envious political following. After Shiv Sena executive party president Uddhav Thackeray rushed to his rescue following the accusations made by the Left, it's now the NCP that is publicly voicing its support for him.

Public works minister Chhagan Bhujbal is already sharing poster space with Ramdev since his Nasik workshop a month back. On Monday, energy minister Dilip Walse-Patil hosted a grand dinner for the guru and called his friends (politicians and bureaucrats) to meet him. The turnout was impressive and included finance minister Jayant Patil, deputy CM R.R. Patil and NCP chief Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule. This was followed by R.R. Patil taking time off to grace Ramdev's ongoing workshop at the Bandra-Kurla complex on Wednesday. "It was just a friendly visit. I support his yoga teachings, he is doing great work," Patil said. He was quick to add that his visit had no political agenda.

It's a vote bank that is important to the NCP. The party has been trying to woo the state's middle class from the Sena and North Indians from the Congress for quite some time now.