Congress, BJP condemn attack on Ramdev

The ruling Congress and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday condemned the attack on yoga guru Baba Ramdev by a man who threw ink on the saffron-robed guru while he was addressing a press conference on black money in Delhi.

Supporters of the yoga guru allegedly beat up the man identified as Kamran Siddiqui before police arrested him.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh said that the incident might be a ´conspiracy´ to create sympathy for Ramdev.

"I condemn this incident. This should not have happened...It seems like a conspiracy to create sympathy for Baba Ramdev," Singh said.

Congress leader Rashid Alvi condemned the ink-throwing act on Ramdev.

The BJP demanded for a stricter action against ´those responsible´ for the attack.

"BJP condemns the attack on Baba Ramdev.We want strict action on those responsible for it," BJP leader Arun Jaitley said.

Ramdev was holding the press conference at the Delhi´s Constitutional Club where he was mentioning about his plans to campaign against black money and corruption in the poll bound states.

Ramdev´s supporters said Siddiqui entered the venue with a walkie talkie in his hand and posed himself as a security personnel.

His supporters had initially blamed Congress for the ruckus created at the press conference on Saturday.

Reacting to this, Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury told NDTV: "We are disappointed at the initial remarks. I do not think he has benefited from the yoga teachings at all..I feel bad that something like that happened to him. In a democracy it is unfortunate. But it is worse that he blames us because we have no connection with any of this behaviour."

Team Anna member Manish Sisodia said that the attack was made to divert attention of the people from the issue of black money.

Meanwhile, Ramdev said that he was not affected by the incident and he would continue his campaign against black money and corruption.

"I will not be effected by this incident. By throwing ink on me, my character will not change. We will continue our fight," he said.

Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy was also present at the press conference.