Ramdev

Bharat Swabhiman

In 2010, Ramdev announced plans to form a political party. In 2011, he stated that he did not have political ambitions, and instead of forming a political party, he would focus on fighting against nationwide corruption. In 2014, Ramdev announced that Bharat Swabhiman would contest some constituencies in the general election of that year and form alliances with some other parties. It was at this time that he voiced his support for Narendra Modi to become the next Prime Minister of India, and he signed nine pledges with BJP leaders on institutional and cultural reforms. The Gujarat High Court allowed the Trust to hold yoga camps in 2014 as long as the camps were not political in nature.

Campaigns against corruption

In April 2011, Ramdev called on the government to add punitive powers to the Jan Lokpal Bill, a bill to appoint an independent body to investigate alleged government corruption. Relatedly, Ramdev announced he would go on an anshan hunger strike at Ramlila Ground in Delhi, on 4 June 2011, to pressure the government to root out corruption and repatriate black money. A week before the scheduled fast, the government set up a committee, headed by the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, to suggest steps to curb black money and its transfer abroad. Talks continued between the two sides and, on 3 June, both sides claimed that a consensus had been reached on most issues. However, in the evening, Ramdev announced that he would still carry on with his hunger strike.

During the first day of the strike, government minister Kapil Sibal publicized a letter from Ramdev's camp stating that the hunger strike would end if the government honoured its commitments. Ramdev took it as a betrayal by the government and hardened his position.

Shortly before midnight on the first day, a Delhi police spokesman announced that permission for the gathering had been revoked because permission was only granted for a 5,000 person yoga camp, and not for a protest of 50,000 people. At midnight, over 5,000 police officers disrupted the protest and used Tear gas shells and a lathicharge to drive away protesters. Ramdev tried to escape capture by disguising himself in women's clothes but was eventually arrested and flown back to his ashram in Haridwar and banned from entering Delhi for 15 days. On reaching Haridwar, Ramdev told reporters that his fast was not over yet and he would continue with his satyagraha civil resistance.

Police reported that 53 citizens and ten police members were injured and treated in hospitals. There were accusations that women protesters had been badly treated by the police, who alleged that they had objects thrown at them by protesters. One female protester suffered a spinal injury and later died in a hospital from cardiac arrest. In a statement, Ramdev highlighted her sacrifice and noted that they would honor her by fighting against corruption in India.

Aftermath of the Delhi protest

Ramdev accused the government of cheating him, and alleged that there was a conspiracy to kill him. Leaders of the BJP said that the police action had been a shameful chapter in the democracy of this country. BJP leader LK. Advani called it naked fascism. India's Supreme Court asked the government for an explanation.

Ramdev was supported by civil society activists as well. Activist Anna Hazare called the crackdown a "strangulation of democracy". Hazare indicated that the action could have been compared to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre if the policed had fired ammunition. Thousands of supporters in other cities continued their fast in protest.

Ramdev ended his fast on the ninth day, after being hospitalised two days earlier. His decision to end the protest was welcomed by politicians from the BJP, Janata Party and Congress Party.

Ambedkar stadium fast movement

As a part of the "India against corruption" movement, Ramdev launched another indefinite protest on 10 August 2012 against the government's failure to act against corruption and repatriate money. He announced that his future strategy depended upon the government's response to his protest. Ramdev ended the fast at Delhi's Ambedkar Stadium on 14 August 2012, and announced he was returning to Haridwar. At Ambedkar, Ramdev said, "we are leaving because we won."

Television

Ramdev began appearing on TV as a yoga guru in 2002, first with Sanskar TV. The following year, in 2003, Aastha TV began featuring him in its morning yoga slot. He proved to be telegenic and gained a large following. A large number of people, including some celebrities from India and abroad, attended his Yoga camps. He taught students in foreign countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. He also addressed Muslim clerics at their seminary in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh in 2009. At Yog Gram, his main yoga centre, Ramdev practices and teaches yoga in an auditorium, for TV broadcast. In 2017, he was also a judge of a reality show entitled, "Om Shanti Om", where contestants sang devotional songs.