Ramdev from 'Baba' to 'Bapu'

New Delhi, May 20: It's not Modi's charisma nor his grandiloquence that won the party its helm, at least that's what some of the senior members of the party-Uma Bharti and Arun Jaitley indicated when the latter compared him to the Mahatma.

Uma Bharti said,"Modi ji ko PM bana ne mein sabse bada yogdaan Baba Ramdev ji ka hai (Baba Ramdev has a huge role to play behind Narendra Modi's success)"

Many wonder how, but surely the journey must not have been that easy, especially when he had vowed that he did not have anything to do with politics initially.

The Yoga Guru turns BJP's guru

Initially known for his yoga teachings in television, Baba Ramdev shot to fame for popularizing yoga among the health-conscious people of the world. He also heads the Patanjali group of institutions that makes medicines and herbal products.

He suddenly came to limelight in the political sphere when BJP's the then Prime Ministrial nominate Narendra Modi paid a visit to him. Speculations of his involvement in politics spiralled immediately after that.

The Yogic Guru, however, denied any affiliation. Interestingly, he made a sudden appearance and openly backed BJP and their ideology of Hindutva. He also said that the country could progress only under the leadership of Narendra Modi.

However, the Congress party was his main sore point, which emerged every now and then-be it the Rahul's honeymoon comment or his coining the historic 'mother-son' party.

The BJP bastion was already in his hands...unconsciously.

His 'contributions' to the party

Although he would deny any vote seeking in his camps, a report by a leading news agency shows Ramdev saying that he would urge his followers to vote for BJP in the 2014 General Elections so that the party could get 300 seats.

Addressing to the press he had said,"I would urge my followers to vote for Narendra Modi in the next Lok Sabha polls."

He also said that the Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust had sorted out a plan to mobilize 50 crore voters across the country. He also revealed the plan of actions saying that Yoga camps would be organised on March 23, the the martyr day of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru, across the country. He said that around ten crore people would be participating in the camps.

In his Godhra and Kolhapur camps, he openly backed Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister. It is not unknown how many of his followers had gathered here.

Comparing Ramdev with Bapu

Let's not discuss the attire, which surely has a similarity, but the vote mobilising part has an uncanny similarity with Bapu mobilising the freedom struggle. Bapu was a yogic too and was also a believer of organic and Indian products.

Be it Baba or Bapu, India has witnessed a historical change in both their cases.