New Delhi Ramlila grounds, the traditional venue for the autumnal festival of good and evil that involves burning effigies of a 10-headed mythological demon king, has increasingly become the place to rally people against government corruption.
- Vibhuti Agarwal/The Wall Street Journal
- Baba Ramdev will begin a proposed hunger strike in New Delhi’s Ramlila grounds on Saturday.
Police expect over 100,000 people to show up on Saturday, when—barring some breakthrough with the Congress-led government this evening—the maverick yoga guru Baba Ramdev will begin a proposed hunger strike to push the government to bring back black money that Indians have stashed in tax havens abroad.
With the event less than 24 hours away, the site has been bustling with activity as scores of men have been working round the clock to set up facilities for this political carnival. Already, on Friday, tens of thousands had amassed there.
According to a spokesman for Baba Ramdev's Bharat Swabhiman Trust (Indian Self-Pride Trust), which is organizing the event, the ground has been covered by 250,000 square meters of waterproof tents, and hundreds of whirring fans and taps have been placed at every few meters, to shade those who attend the rally where yoga will be practiced several times a day. The weather department has predicted temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius for Saturday.
On the central stage that has been set up for Baba Ramdev, there is a main seating area that is covered with massive cut-outs [...]
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