The yoga guru's meetings in the state must rank as among the most vituperative, colourful and no-holds-barred campaigns ever from a man who loudly proclaims he has no political ambition ' even as he remains on a mission that is anything but apolitical.
At gatherings since he launched his 'Voter Awareness Campaign' at Neemuch in the middle of last month, Baba Ramdev has made strong remarks against the Nehru-Gandhi family and senior Congressman Digvijaya Singh, and used a series of conspiracy theories to try to run down Congress leaders.
At his yoga camps, the guru has offered no excuses while seeking votes for the BJP.
"Baba bikau maal nahin hai. Agar mujhe paise ka laalach hota to Congress ke hathon kabkaa bik gayaa hota (The Baba is not for sale. Had I been greedy, I would have been bought by the Congress long ago)," Ramdev told an audience in Shivpuri.
"I will expose the conspiracy to try to buy me out with evidence before the Lok Sabha elections," the yoga guru said.
Ramdev said he had dropped the idea of floating his own political outfit only because the BJP had promised to back his issues. "Vote for Shivraj as CM and Modi as PM," he said.
Often Ramdev has been offensive ' calling Digvijaya an "asurputra" (son of a demon) at Shajapur, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a servant of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi a "bhondu" (fool) or "Pappu".
On other occasions, Ram-
dev has spoken with mischief about Jawaharlal Nehru's relationship with Edwina Mountbatten, casting aspersions on Indira Gandhi, and referred to Rahul Gandhi's alleged girlfriends. He has said the Congress is a party of foreigners.
Ramdev has accused, without offering any proof, "one political family" of being behind the deaths of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Subhas Chandra Bose.