New Delhi: In the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Yoga guru Ramdev was among the most vocal supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in general and Narendra Modi, who went on to become prime minister, in particular.
This election season, however, there have been mixed signals from Ramdev on voting for the BJP and Modi, and he has largely stayed away from the limelight during the campaign period.
Now, his company, Patanjali Ayurved, says it is neutral and will back a government that promises to work for farmers, Ayurveda and healthcare.
“Koi bhi party aa jaye, hume isse farak nahi padta. Jo bhi party rashtra hit aur jann hit me kaam kare, wahi nayi sarkar banaye (We aren’t bothered about which party forms the government. The only point is it should work for the benefit of the nation and benefit of its citizens),” Acharya Balkrishna, the chief executive officer of Patanjali Ayurved, told ThePrint.
Balkrishna — the 15th richest man in India in 2018 with real-time worth at $4.8 billion and net worth around $5 billion — appeared to echo Ramdev’s stance on the BJP.
He told ThePrint that the BJP hadn’t done enough for farmers.
“Whatever the present government has done is not sufficient for Indian farmers. They deserve much more,” he said. “Whoever comes to power, the first priority should be our farmers. Instead of giving subsidy to big companies and entrepreneurs, the subsidies should be given to the farmers.”
Balkrishna also said he was happy with the BJP’s efforts to popularise yoga across the world but equally unhappy about the government’s inability to promote Ayurveda.
“Some efforts have been made but they are very few,” he said. “We are lagging behind in the research and development in Ayurveda. R&D in Ayurveda should be a priority for the new government.”
The Ramdev flip-flops
Ramdev has largely remained silent during this election campaign period while appearing to back as well as shun the Prime Minister.
Last month, Ramdev endorsed Modi while accompanying Union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore who was filing his nomination for the Jaipur (Rural) constituency.
“To make India a world economic and political superpower in next 20-25 years, we have to make Modi stronger,” Ramdev said on 18 April. “In his hands, the country is safe; the future of our jawans is safe, the honour and respect of women is safe and farms of farmers are safe.”
But it was a complete reversal of the stand he had last year.
In 2018, Ramdev, 53, told NDTV that spiralling petrol and diesel prices would cost Modi heavily in the elections. He also told the channel that he would not campaign for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.
“I have withdrawn myself politically. I am with all parties and I am with no parties,” Ramdev had then said, adding that “people who are making the cow a religious animal are wrong. A cow has no religion”.
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The Modi backer in 2013
Ramdev had predicted in 2013 that Modi would go on to become the prime minister in the 2014 elections before undertaking a Vote for Modi yatra in January 2014. “We need to spread the message of ‘Vote for Modi’,” Ramdev had then said. “The yatra will aim for economic justice and freedom from a corrupt rule.”
The respect appeared to be mutual as well.
On several instances, Modi and Ramdev shared a stage where they both praised each others’ “vision and common goals”. In one such meeting in March 2014, Modi told a gathering at the Ramlila ground in Delhi that Ramdev and he shared a common goal of bringing back to India black money stashed away in foreign banks.
U-turns with Congress
In between Modi’s tenure, Ramdev appeared to have mended fences with the opposition Congress. In 2014, he was among the harshest critics of the Congress-led UPA government.
Last year, however, he told a news channel that he was on “friendly terms” with Congress President Rahul Gandhi. “Rahul and Sonia Gandhi practice yoga regularly,” Ramdev told the channel. “Rahul and I are on friendly terms.”
In May 2015, Ramdev even praised Rahul Gandhi and credited him for infusing some life into a “virtually dead Congress”.
However, in an interview to Businessworld, his aide Balkrishna had in 2017 blamed the Congress for creating hurdles in the growth of their business empire, Patanjali.
“Congress tried to malign our image and created obstacles in whatever we tried to do. We haven’t taken any favour from the BJP government and nor do we believe in favouritism,” Balkrishna said.
“This government believes in creating ease of doing business. Now citizens have understood that we were being trapped by the UPA government and hence, they are showering love and trust on our products.”
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