Mamata Has Credentials to Be PM, Says Baba Ramdev

Kolkata: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, considered a close confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday lauded West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying that she had enough credential to become Prime Minister.

"There should not be any question regarding her credibility in politics. If son of a chai-wala could become Prime Minister, Mamataji could also become Prime Minister," Ramdev told reporters.

"In politics, Mamataji is the symbol of honesty and simplicity. I love her simplicity. She wears chappals and ordinary saris. I believe she does not have black money," he said.

"Once during my visit to West Bengal, when Left Front was in power, I had said the Leftists should go and Mamataji should come to power. And exactly it happened thereafter," he said.

Despite Banerjee's staunch opposition to demonetisation, which he supports, Ramdev appeared soft on her when he said the TMC supremo was actually against the procedure by which the move was being implemented.

"I think she is not opposed to the demonetisation move per se. But I feel she is not happy the way it was implemented", Ramdev said at the Infocom seminar in Kolkata.

The yoga guru-cum-entrepreneur said, "I had planted the seeds of demonetisation. I continued the movement from 2009 to 2014 and asked the government to withdraw Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes as it was root cause of corruption, black money generation and terror and militant funding".

Now with demonetisation, black money generation, corruption and terror funding had stopped totally, he said at the seminar.

"The common people is getting inconvenienced due to cash crisis. But none is complaining against this," he said. However, Ramdev said he believed that total cashless system could not be possible immediately and it would take time i.e. atleast six months.

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the move, he sarcastically said that former PM Manmohan Singh, who had never spoken a word on any issue, had actually spoken now on the issue.

"This is the effect of demonetisation you see," he quipped.

Ramdev called on West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi at Raj Bhavan and termed it as 'a courtesy call'.