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Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev on Wednesday hit out at Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh over his perceived hesitancy in tackling endemic corruption. Launching a scathing verbal attack, Ramdev accused Dr. Singh of turning a blind eye towards the plight of the common man burdened by rampant graft and escalating price rise. "Can the Prime Minister not see the corruption and scams that are taking place across India ? If the Prime Minister cannot see the corruption, does that mean scams are not taking place in India ? The Prime Minister is neither seeing the pain of the common man nor is he listening to the uproar among the masses," Ramdev told media in Jhajjar, Haryana. "The Prime Minister is enjoying while the masses are suffering from corruption and inflation. Is it the fault of the Indian people that the Prime Minister is unable to speak up because his remote control is dysfunctional?" he asked. The Yoga Guru also strongly condemned the Prime Minister's defence following the allegations made against him. "The Prime Minister says he is innocent and that he would retire from public life and become an ascetic if allegations of corruption against him are proved true. This is a welcome thing," said Ramdev. "It is good if he wants to be an ascetic, but he must not be a tainted ascetic. Even I am an ascetic, but I have taken the vow of staying away from politics," he added. Meanwhile, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Uma Bharti reacted to the Prime Minister's vow to retire from political life with scathing sarcasm. "Manmohan Singh must inform me the day he wants to retire from politics and become an ascetic. I will personally keep a pair of clothes ready for him and bring him to the holy city of Varanasi to make him take the holy dip in River Ganges," Bharti said in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi city. The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, had earlier on Tuesday termed as unfortunate the allegations made against him by Team Anna. "There have been reports about the allocation of coal blocks based on leaked portions of a draft report on the issue. We have also recieved a letter on the same subject. The Coal Minister has given factual details in response to these allegations and the Coal Ministry has put up all the information on its website (on May 17th). We have not yet received the CAG report," Dr. Singh told media on-board press interaction enroute from Yangon to New Delhi "When we do, the Government will submit its detailed factual response before the Public Accounts Committee as per Constitutional procedure. Uninformed allegations and discussions based on leaked drafts are unfortunate. It is unfortunate that irresponsible allegations are being made without confirming the facts," he added. Dr. Singh also said that if it was found that he had done something wrong, he would not hesitate to quit public life. Supreme Court lawyer and Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan had earlier criticized the Prime Minister, saying that the ruling Congress Party had been using his honest credentials as a 'shield' while perpetrating corruption with brazen impunity. Bhushan questioned the Prime Minister's perceived hesitancy in dealing with corrupt minister and coalition allies. "The Congress party repeatedly hails the honesty of the Prime Minister. He is projected as an honest leader of the government. So, I had said the Congress party was trying to use the Prime Minister and his clean image as a shield, just like the character of Shikhandi was used in the Hindu epic Mahabharata," he said. Bhushan further called for the establishment of an independent panel to probe the allegations of graft levelled against senior cabinet ministers.

Ramdev criticizes PM for failing to tackle corruption