New York Times on Friday ran a lengthy article on the Baba Ramdev. It covered his economical, political and spiritual activities. The article compared him with Donald trump on various aspects and called him ‘India’s Donald Trump’ and predicted that he may run for the prime minister.
Newyork times wrote, “In his own way, Ramdev is India’s answer to Donald Trump, and there is much speculation that he may run for prime minister himself. Like Trump, he heads a multibillion-dollar empire. And like Trump, he is a bombastic TV personality whose relationship with truth is elastic; he cannot resist a branding opportunity — his name and face are everywhere in India” . The article also notes dissimilarities between trump and Baba as it writes, “On the surface, Ramdev’s blissful demeanor is worlds away from Trump’s growls and sneers”.
Story shed light on Baba’s friendship with Modi as it writes, “Ramdev has been a prominent voice on the Hindu right, and his tacit endorsement during the landmark 2014 campaign helped bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power. He appeared alongside Modi on several occasions, singing the leader’s praises and urging Indians to turn out for him. Ramdev has called Modi “a close friend,” and the prime minister publicly lauds Patanjali’s array of ayurvedic products — medicines, cosmetics and foodstuffs”.
But Indians feel the logic presented in this article is far fetched. Of course it is true that both Patanjali and The Trump Organisation large business enterprises, but comparing characters of these two is ridiculous. First, Trump’s image as womanizer is completely different from Ramdev’s character. Second, Ramdev is seen as just a yoga guru by Indians and predicting him as future PM is ludicrous from point of view of Indians. People elected Modi for his administrative skills but not his spiritual or religious ideals.
