Hemant Soren held for refusing to quit INDIA: Congress at bloc’s unity show

Tribune News Service

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, April 21

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday alleged Hemant Soren was forced to resign from the post of Jharkhand Chief Minister and arrested by the ED because he refused to buckle under pressure and snap his ties with the INDIA bloc and join hands with the BJP.

INDIA bloc leaders gathered in a show of strength at the ‘Ulgulan (uprising) Nyay Rally’ in Ranchi today to show solidarity with arrested Delhi CM and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren. At the rally, Kejriwal’s wife claimed attempts were being made to “kill” her husband in jail by denying him insulin, while Hemant Soren’s wife read out the former CM’s message from jail, saying “democracy couldn’t be allowed to fail”.

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Besides Kharge, JMM supremo Shibu Soren, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, RJD leader and former Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Jharkhand CM Champai Soren, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi were among those present at the rally, which was the third joint meeting organised by the INDIA bloc in the run-up to the General Election.

Representatives of 28 parties were present at the rally, organisers said.

“INDIA bloc leaders are strong individuals. They will not budge under BJP’s pressure. BJP tried to intimidate Hemant Soren but he preferred to go to jail rather than leaving the alliance or breaking it. Soren wants to expand the alliance. I give him my thanks for that,” Kharge said.

“We will all back one who is ready to fight (against BJP). We will defeat Modi in 2024. Modi likes to give the impression that he is invincible. It is not so. BJP had earlier given the ‘India Shining’ slogan and created an atmosphere that appeared favourable to them. But they lost in the polls,” the Congress president said. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was all set to take part in the rally but could not come because of health reasons, Kharge said.

Two empty chairs — one each for Kejriwal and Hemant Soren — were kept on stage. Kalpana Soren and Sunita Kejriwal, wives of Hemant Soren and Arvind Kejriwal, respectively, were seated on the dais.

Sunita alleged the BJP government was trying to creating problems over Kejriwal’s food and insulin because they wanted to “kill” the Delhi CM. “His food, his every morsel is being monitored... He is a sugar patient and he has been taking 50 units of insulin every day for past 12 years. But he is not being given insulin in jail. They want to kill Delhi’s CM,” she claimed.

The BJP was trying to topple governments in Opposition-ruled states but democracy cannot be allowed to fail, Hemant Soren said in a message from jail that his wife Kalpana read out at the rally.

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#Arvind Kejriwal #Congress #Hemant Soren #INDIA bloc #Jharkhand #Mallikarjun Kharge