New Delhi: A long-standing feud between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and yoga guru Baba Ramdev appears to have ended with the latter announcing their meeting here on Wednesday, having resolved differences.
Baba Ramdev claimed later that based on hearsay and video clips, Singh had developed some misgivings that were subsequently cleared during the meeting. Thanking Singh, he further said that the former President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) offered his respects, adding that he also expressed high regard for sants and Sanatana and that he held Ramdev’s work for the country in high esteem.
Their feud goes back four years, with the six-term MP having alleged that Ramdev or his organisation had done nothing for the birthplace of ancient Indian sage and philosopher Maharishi Patanjali, which Singh said was in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda. The sage is widely regarded as the father of classical yoga and the author of the Yoga Sutras.
The BJP leader, who himself was born in Bishnoharpur village of Gonda district, had demanded that Ramdev and Patanjali managing director Balakrishna stop using the sage’s name for their brand.
Patanjali Foods Limited has also filed a Rs 50-crore defamation suit against the BJP leader in the Madhya Pradesh High Court for criticising its ghee as “fake”, urging people to instead make their own. Saying that milk is easily available in a village and that he also used to go to graze buffaloes, he advised people to rear buffaloes and cows at home for making pure milk and ghee.
In response to the case, Singh had publicly alleged that Ramdev is the “emperor of adulterators”, claiming that several of his products have been banned in other countries.
In 2023, when Singh was involved in a controversy involving female wrestlers who accused him of sexual harassment as the WFI head, seeking his arrest, Ramdev reportedly stood with the complainants.
Last month, Singh charged Ramdev with introducing spurious products and foreign goods in the name of “Swadeshi”.
Referring to an earlier agitation, he had also said that instead of putting on “sindoor” and “salwar”, the yoga guru should fight a decisive battle now “like a man”. The long diatribe appears to have ended on Wednesday, with the two sitting together to end the feud.
(IANS)
