Crowds are thinner on day two of Ramdev's anti-corruption fast
Lakhs of people went on a fast on Friday but not many visited the Ramlila Ground to vouch their support to Baba Ramdev's agitation against corruption.
Janamashtami, despite being a government holiday, could not add more to the number of supporters at the fast venue. Some people claimed that the crowd at the ground had, in fact, thinned down since Thursday, the first day of the agitation.
Ramdev, however, made it clear that he was in no mood to relent on his demands. The yoga guru announced that he will continue his agitation till the government takes concrete steps to bring back 'black money' stashed in foreign banks. He asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to show his 'political will' by taking firm steps to curb corruption.
Ramdev spoke on the sorry state of farmers in the country and said it was paradoxical that so many of them were committing suicide while the government was obsessed with growth numbers.
His aides were seen trying their best to mobilise the crowd, more so as the yoga guru has said he would announce his next course of action on August 12.
Ramdev and many of his supporters are on a three-day fast demanding measures to bring back black money and a stronger Jan Lokpal Bill.
The yoga guru played down reports of differences between him and Anna Hazare. 'People are after us because we are fighting against corruption and have no agenda of our own. We are together against corruption,' he said.
Ramdev said he was in favour of a strong Lokpal and not a sarkari (government- backed) Bill. Black money, however, remained the focus of his speech, as he claimed it can help the government tackle Maoism as well as poverty.
'If the black money could be brought back and utilised properly, a number of quality hospitals and schools could be opened across the country and development would have seen a spurt,' he said.
He also demanded that the CBI be made independent of the government's control and a transparent selection process be worked out to appoint election commissioners and comptroller and auditor general.