Following his arrest, support for Baba Ramdev seems to pour in. While the Bharatiya Janata Party declared a 24-hour satyagrah, the Uttarakhand chief minister assured the Baba that he could continue his protest in the state if he wanted to. With the Left and Samajwadi Party joining in to criticise the UPA, th government seems isolated

T he Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party may not see eye to eye. However, what made them unwittingly join hands was the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government's action against yoga guru Ramdev, who was arrested and lathicharged while staging a satyagrah at the Ram Leela grounds in New Delhi in protest against corruption and black money.

Both BJP president Nitin Gadkari and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday stood up against what they termed the UPA regime's "brutality" against the spiritual guru and his silently protesting supporters.

Taking strong exception to Digvijaya Singh's reference to Ram Dev as "a thug", Mulayam added, "It was unbecoming of any senior political leader to use such blasphemous language against anyone."

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Gadkari not only demanded an apology from Prime MInister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, but added, "Such a government should not continue in office."

Calling for a nationwide protest demonstration on Sunday, he also declared that all top BJP leaders would observe a 24-hour 'satyagrah' at the Rajghat in New Delhi to express their resentment against the "undemocratic and dictatorial ways of the UPA regime."

The BJP chief said, "The brutality displayed by the government in dealing with Ramdev and his simple supporters raising their voice against corruption and black money, reflects the apathy of those sitting at the helm of affairs towards these vital issues."

"It appears that the Congress leadership was scared to let anyone raise the issues of corruption and black money, as it would bring out many more skeletons from their own cupboard."

Gadkari added, "That is why we have decided to sit on a 24-hour satyagrah at the Rajghat in New Delhi, from 7 pm on Sunday."

Top BJP leaders including LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and many others would join the satyagrah, he added.

Asked whether they would be allowed to observe the satyagrah considering that the Delhi administration has clamped section 144 in the wake of developments at the Ramdev protest, Gadkari declared, "Permission or no permission, we will go ahead with our protest irrespective of the consequences which we are ready to face."