Both the Civil Society and the government seem to be playing the game of brinkmanship, with Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh now saying that the government may deal with Anna in the same way it dealt with Baba Ramdev.
“Anna saheb says he will again sit on fast. If he does, he may get the same treatment as the other one got recently,” Singh, known for making attention-grabbing statements, said at an even in his home state of Madhya Pradesh.
The statement is seen as a response to repeated threats by Anna Hazare that he has resigned himself to restarting his agitation on August 16. He said so after talks between the Civil Society campaigners and the Government over the details of India’s impending anti-corruption ombudsman broke down two days ago.
The government had broken up Yog guru Baba Ramdev’s fast and agitation at the Ramlila grounds early this month, claiming that it was orchestrated by the opposition right wing political parties. Home minister P Chidambaram had said that the opposition and its allied organizations such as the RSS wanted to bring down the government through mass protests and come back to power through fresh elections.
The Congress led UPA has three more years left of its 5-year mandate given by the people of India in mid 2009.
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