“Don’t keep asking such questions. Am I your contractor who has to keep answering your questions?”

This is what yoga guru Baba Ramdev snapped at a persistent journalist when asked about rising petrol and diesel prices in the country, according to NDTV.

A video of the interaction in Karnal was posted on Twitter by NDTV journalist Mohammad Ghazali. Ramdev can be heard saying, “The government says that if oil prices are less then they won't get tax. So, how will they run the country, pay the military, build roads...Everyone must work hard. Even as a sanyasi, I work from 4 am to 10 pm.”

A journalist, who hasn’t been identified, then asked Ramdev about his previous comments on a government that must ensure petrol at Rs 40 a litre and cooking gas at Rs 300.

Looking visibly upset, Ramdev made his “contractor” statement and said, “I did give it [the comments] but I won’t give it now. Do what you want. Be quiet now, it won’t be good if you ask again.”

In the last 10 days, petrol and diesel prices have been hiked nine times, crossing the Rs 100 mark in some states.