Yoga guru Ramdev has denied Uttarakhand Congress' charge.
Highlights
- Congress says Baba Ramdev instigating revolt within party
- Baba Ramdev refutes charges, says "We break or make openly, not secretly"
- Chief Minister Harish Rawat of Congress to take trust vote on Monday
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has been accused by the Congress of secretly instigating a rebellion which could ensure the party loses power in Uttarakhand. Baba Ramdev has denied the charge.
Kishore Upadhyay, the president of the Congress in the hill state, has alleged that "Ramdev was in touch with Congress rebels and is one of the key persons besides the BJP President (Amit Shah) involved in hatching a conspiracy against the ruling party." The politician went on to tag the yoga guru as "a BJP agent".
Baba Ramdev's huge business empire and yoga ashrams are headquartered in Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
"Not even in my dream did I have a talk with any Congress MLA or party worker. Whatever we do, we do it openly... if we have to make or break something, we do it openly, we don't do anything with a hidden agenda behind curtains," Ramdev told reporters in Haridwar.
On Monday, Harish Rawat of the Congress has to win a trust vote in Uttarakhand, necessitated by nine of his party's law-makers rebelling to side with the opposition BJP, which claims it can prove it has the support needed to form the government.
Uttarakhand has 70 assembly seats. Before the Congress revolt, Mr Rawat had 36 law-makers on his side, which is the minimum needed to remain in power.