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Swami Ramdev rushed to hospital after fast

India’s most popular yoga guru, Swami Ramdev has been rushed to hospital, seven days into his fast until death to protest against corruption.

Ramdev has been on hunger strike since Saturday, when the government used armed police to forcibly break up his fast in New Delhi.

Reuters reported that local government officials ordered Ramdev to be taken to a hospital as leading civil activist Anna Hazare and the main opposition party called on the ruling Congress party to reach an agreement with the guru on repatriating black money and passing anti-graft legislation.

“(Ramdev) has been taken to ICU, Jolly Grant hospital Dehradun due to low pulse rate and ketone body found in urine and dehydration on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer,” S.K. Tijarwala, Ramdev’s spokesman, said in a statement.

India’s political system risks being undermined by a growing sense of unaccountability, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seen as out of touch with voters. Many senior ministers are in their 60s and 70s, about a quarter of elected MPs face criminal charges, and an anti-corruption bill has been mulled for 40 years.

“It appears the government is indifferent to Ramdev’s condition,” main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters.

It was also announced today that Ramdev’s aide Acharya Balkrishna holds 99.9 per cent stake in Vedic Broadcasting, owners of the Aastha channel.