ByRamdev’s political fortunes haven’t surged the way Patanjali’s valuation has, but they’re both benchmarked by his ability to stay fixed in the public eye.With the added zing of activism, Ramdev became larger than life, not merely a celebrated TV personality but a standard bearer for nationalism, probity in public life and swadeshi. By now it was clear that the yoga guru was open to the idea of parleying his mass appeal into votes. As secretary of Bharat Swabhiman Andolan, Rajiv Dixit [Ramdev’s close collaborator, behind his pro-swadeshi, anti-MNC, anti-FDI tirades] openly declared that it was a political party with clearly defined objectives and would contest elections. But that was not to be, partly because of Dixit’s untimely and controversial death.Around this time, Baba Ramdev had not only been in communication with leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Right-wing outfit aligned to the current ruling government at the Centre, the BJP, but articulated a considerable degree of affinity with its perspectives and objectives. It occurred to him that instead of forging a new political instrument, the RSS could reshape the BJP to fulfil common objectives — eradication of corruption and black money, a rollback of neo-liberalism and neo-colonialism and national reconstruction through cultural consciousness.In 2010, he reportedly sent a proposal to the RSS headquarters at Nagpur, suggesting a “kayakalp” or transformation of its political arm, the BJP. An eleven-member panel be set up to restructure the BJP constitution, he proposed, with senior BJP leader L K Advani overseeing a sort of “maha-Kamaraj” plan,The proposed timeline for the overall “kayakalp” envisaged thirty days for restructuring and ninety days for a new constitution. Baba Ramdev also mooted the setting up of a six-member committee comprising two nominees each from the RSS, BJP and Bharat Swabhiman Andolan, to oversee their joint campaign for political and social change.Almost a year later, in March of 2011, the RSS top brass met at Udupi (Karnataka) and reportedly discussed the proposal. A few weeks later, on 7 April 2011, the RSS sarsanghchalak, Mohanrao Bhagwat attended a function organised by Ramdev in Haridwar. After it was over, the two met in private and Bhagwat handed over a written note to Baba Ramdev suggesting he speak to the BJP directly. In effect, the RSS had rejected his proposal. When asked about the episode, Baba Ramdev responded perfunctorily... ‘Let it be. It is now an old story.’Ramdev’s old-time friend K N Govindacharya was unsure whether the Indian electorate was ready to see a saffron-clad renunciate in a political role. While swamis and sadhvis had become Members of Parliament — why, Uma Bharti had even become chief minister of Madhya Pradesh — none had actually led a political party. Indian tradition, Govindacharya felt, accepts an ascetic or rishi governmental posts, in order to devote themselves to organisational work as a Royal Preceptor or Rajguru (much like Drona in the Mahabharata), but not principally as a ruler or raja.Even before the RSS snub, Baba Ramdev’s political ambitions had suffered a setback when Rajiv Dixit (his close aide) suddenly took ill and died on 30 November 2010 in Bhilai (Chhattisgarh). The cause of death, according to Patanjali, was a “cardiac arrest” but strangely, a post-mortem was not conducted, nor was the media told of his passing. The cremation was conducted by Baba Ramdev and Rajiv’s brother, Pradeep, to the accompaniment of uneasy murmurs from the late activist’s associates.In 2012, Baba Ramdev would tell the media that he feared a conspiracy to implicate him in Dixit’s death. Another mysterious death — or disappearance — had already been hanging over the yogi’s head since July 2007 when his mentor, Shankar Dev, then aged seventy-seven, had gone missing (the ageing guru had named Baba Ramdev as his successor before his mysterious disappearance). Baba Ramdev’s closest aide, Balkrishna, had even lodged a missing person’s complaint with the local police on 14 July 2007, but the case came to naught as the investigation didn’t lead the authorities to any conclusive evidence.And there the matter may have rested, but for Acharya Pramod Krishnan, a Ramdev detractor who demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI probe into the matter. Bent on exposing Ramdev, in May 2011 Pramod Krishnan had written to the then President of India demanding an investigation into Balkrishna’s antecedents. Later, a CBI probe proved that the acharya’s doubts were not unfounded and accused Balkrishna of using fake documents and a forged birth certificate to procure a passport and framed criminal charges against him. Thereafter, the self-styled vaidya and discoverer of the legendary sanjivani buti has had to move court to get permission to travel abroad.That done, Acharya Pramod Krishnan trained his guns on the Baba yet again and with the support of senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who had once described Ramdev as a “thug”, insisted on a thorough investigation. Finally, in 2012, a CBI probe was ordered into the inexplicable disappearance of Shankar Dev and two years later, in December 2014 (by which time the dispensation at the Centre had changed), the agency submitted a report citing its failure in locating Baba Ramdev’s guru!n 4 June 2011, Baba Ramdev arrived at the Ramlila Maidan yet again but with members of his Bharat Swabhiman Andolan, to launch the Bhrashtachaar Mitao (uprooting corruption) satyagraha. The venue was jam-packed with men and women milling about purposefully, ID cards dangling from their shirts. It looked as if Ramdev and his supporters had dug in for the long haul.The embattled ruling class had more than an inkling that Baba Ramdev’s protest might incite citizens seething with anger against an inept administration. The government lost its nerve and with its back to the wall, despatched a team of four Central ministers to assuage the yoga guru at the Delhi airport on 1 June, but to no avail.Finally, on 5 June 2011, the Delhi police stormed the Ramlila Maidan and cleared it of protestors in an efficient, if ruthless, midnight operation. Tear gas shells and lathi charges dispersed the crowd, with hundreds of minor and four serious casualties. Later, a Ramdev associate revealed that a prominent media figure had called the yoga guru and informed him of the operation just before the police contingent arrived; it was too little information, delivered far too late. The agile albeit frightened yoga expert leapt off the dais and disappeared into the melee. A couple of hours later, wearing a woman’s salwar-kameez, with his head covered in a scarf, he tried to flee the venue but was apprehended by the Delhi police. He was arrested and released a day later.Meanwhile, the BJP rallied to Ramdev’s support. Emboldened, he surfaced in Dehradun and thundered that his fast would continue. Alas, exactly a week after the hunger strike-cum-arrest drama, Baba Ramdev’s health deteriorated to the point that he had to be hospitalised, on 12 June 2011. Given that he is phenomenally fit, the rapid breakdown in his health was puzzling. Despite his daily routine of yoga and meditation and nutritionpacked diet of milk products, fruit and sprouted pulses, he was unable to sustain a week-long fast. By comparison, the seventy-four-year- old Anna Hazare effortlessly clocked 288 hours!By this time, Ramdev’s credibility had waned. The cross-dressing image had sparked a public mockfest and the abortive fast-untodeath episode had proved a flop. The UPA chose a civilised way of turning the tables on Baba Ramdev, by letting loose the dogs of modern warfare on him — the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI and the Income Tax department.The Enforcement Directorate had already registered a money laundering case against Balkrishna, while the CBI had charged him with violations of the Passport Act. The IT department slapped a notice of fifty-eight crores on the sale of Ayurvedic medicines by the Patanjali and Divya Yoga trust; a demand of five crores in the form of service tax on the “yog shivirs” or yoga camps, run by the trusts, was also raised. In tandem, the CBI was asked to probe Shankar Dev’s disappearance.The public continued to repose its faith in the Baba, whose troubles with regulatory agencies did not impact his business. By 2014–2015, the net turnover of his ventures had touched 1,200 crores, and the group projected its worth at a whopping 5,000 crores for 2015–2016!The Baba, finding himself under attack on multiple fronts, took refuge with the BJP. In April 2013, he hosted Narendra Modi in Haridwar (he already had an excellent equation with former BJP president Nitin Gadkari — who was not chary of touching the yoga guru’s feet in public) and began campaigning, going so far as to say that his support to the BJP was contingent on Modi becoming prime minister.The rewards for his loyalty were manifold — he was reportedly given seven tickets for his electoral nominees; the ED not only dropped money laundering charges against Balkrishna, but also closed its probe into alleged violations of FEMA by the yoga guru’s Trusts; the CBI closed the investigation into Shankar Dev’s death; Ramdev was provided with the elite Z-category security. In addition, after the NDA government came to power in 2014, it aggressively promoted yoga, including it within the definition of charitable activities. Baba Ramdev’s home state of Haryana offered him the status of a Cabinet minister (which he declined).However, his bid to identify himself with what was solely and traditionally a Gandhian bastion — the khadi sector — failed, with the Centre rejecting his proposal to hand over research, marketing, quality control and management of the Khadi Village Industries Commission to Patanjali. Also, it turned out that he was never offered the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in India, that he had publicly declined (an RTI query revealed that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Mata Amritanandamayi were selected for the awards, but refused). Later, he denounced the awards, saying they were given only to those who lobbied for them.What’s next for India’s most high-profile yoga guru? A lot depends on his evolving relationship with the RSS and the BJP, which has already seen its ups and downs. Back in 2014, despite the initial show of support, he eventually failed to show up for Narendra Modi’s swearing-in and stirred up a controversy by dubbing NDA ministers as arrogant and endorsing Rahul Gandhi as someone who had infused new life into the Congress party! He had gone as far as to declare openly that “even those we support in 2014 we may have to oppose”. Despite his short-lived yet intense tryst with politics, Baba Ramdev will be forced to tread a fine line between the BJP and Congress, given that the former rules the Centre and the latter the state of Uttarakhand, where legal cases related to Patanjali are still pending.