Lucknow, April 25, 2014, PTI: Triggering yet another controversy, yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Friday alleged Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi goes to the houses of Dalits for honeymoon and picnic.
“He goes to Dalits house for honeymoon and picnic. Had he married a Dalit girl, then his luck could have clicked and he would have become the prime minister,” Ramdev said at a programme here.
He said unlike Rahul, Narendra Modi and Ramdev have not become “fakir” (single) under compulsion. “Us bechare ki bhi kismat kharab hai (Rahul is unlucky)”, Ramdev said.
“His (Rahul’s) mother says that if you marry a foreigner girl, then you cannot become the prime minister and this boy does not want to marry an Indian girl. His mother wants that first he becomes the prime minister and then marry a foreigner”, he added.
Later, in a damage-control exercise, Ramdev claimed he did not make the remarks in a negative sense and was willing to withdraw them if they have hurt the Dalit sentiments.
Earlier refuting Congress’s allegations that he was campaigning for BJP in his yoga camps, Ramdev claimed his camps were “apolitical”.
“My yoga camps are apolitical... We do not appeal for votes in these camps... Airing views through the media is my constitutional right,” Ramdev told reporters here. Ramdev said he would go to Amethi on April 30 and claimed Rahul Gandhi would not be able to win Lok Sabha elections from there this time.
“Rahul will not win elections. It’s 100 per cent certain... This time, BJP’s Smriti Irani will win from Amethi. Kumar Vishwas (of AAP) has sowed the seeds against Rahul there (in Amethi) and Irani will get its benefit,” he claimed.