BJP: PM, Sonia should express regret for using force

The BJP on Thursday demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi express regret over police action against yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his followers in Delhi.

"The Congress president and the PM must apologise to the nation for violating the fundamental right of the citizens to peacefully protest," BJP General Secretary Dharmendra Pradhan told reporters.

Stating that the UPA government resembles a "rudderless ship", he said "The captain (the PM) does not seem to have the steering wheel in his hands.

"It is the Nehru-Gandhi family with overweening powers who set the direction and pace of the ship and demit all accountability the moment the ship runs into rough weather or choppy waters," he said.

He flayed Sonia and Rahul for not condemning the wave of suppression unleashed across the country by the Centre. While the two had raised the issue of police atrocities on farmers at Bhatta-Parsaul in Uttar Pradesh, they have not yet reacted to what had happened with Baba Ramdev.