Amarinder: Revoke yoga guru’s land

Jun 10, 2011 - Asit Jolly |

Age Corespondent

Chandigarh

Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh has demanded that the Himachal Pradesh government revoke its recent lease of 28 acres of prime land to Baba Ramdev.

Capt. Singh has now written to Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal reminding him that the land had originally been donated in 1956 to the state by his father Maharaja Yadvinder Singh for specific use as a summer holiday destination for schoolchildren.
Currently valued between `34 to 40 crores, the land adjacent to Sadhupul village on the Chail-Kandaghat Road was recently transferred to Baba Ramdev to run a yoga centre at an unbelievable annual rent of `1 for 99 years. The lease was made in favour of Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogapeeth, which the former Punjab chief minister said was “not a charitable organisation but a profit-making company running paid yoga training classes and commercially-marketing ayurvedic food supplements and medicines at substantially high prices.”
Appending the then Punjab chief minister Sardar Pratap Singh Kairon’s letter to his father acknowledging the land donation and mentioning specifically its intended use, Capt. Singh said in his letter to Mr Dhumal, “Handing over the land to Ramdev defeats the ultimate idea behind its donation as it was exclusively meant for children who would spend their summer vacations there. I am sure you are aware that Ramdev does not fit in this category and by this lease he has denied the use of this property to the children defeating the ultimate idea behind this donation.”
While the Himachal CM is still to respond, Capt. Singh’s missive is evidently inspired by the yoga guru’s ongoing tirade against the senior Congress leadership.

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