Ranchi : Two empty chairs — one each for jailed Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal former and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren — were kept on stage as the INDIA bloc organised a mega rally in Ranchi on April 21. The ‘Ulgulan Nyay Mahrally’ was organised mainly by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and a large number of its workers wore Hemant Soren masks.
Mr. Soren was arrested on the night of January 31 by the ED in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land fraud. The same central agency also arrested Mr. Kejriwal on March 21 associated with a liquor policy scam.
Though chairs for the JMM executive president and AAP supremo were kept empty, their wives Kalpana Soren and Sunita Kejriwal were seated on the dais. They are apparently set for their larger political role following the arrest of their spouses.
The crowd raised slogans like “Jail ka tala tutega, Hemant Soren chutega” (The jail lock will be broken, Hemant Soren will be released) and “Jharkhand Jhukega Nahi” (Jharkhand will not bow down).” The workers assembled for the ‘Ulgulan Nyay Mahrally’ braving scorching heat as the Jharkhand capital’s temperature was hovering around 40° Celcius.
Besides Ms. Kalpana and Ms. Sunita, JMM supremo Shibu Soren, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, RJD leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and others attended the rally in a mega show of strength for the opposition bloc.
A total of 28 political parties are taking part in the rally, which is being held at the Prabhat Tara Ground. Security arrangements have been beefed up with the deployment of additional forces in the capital in view of the rally.
The word ‘Ulugulan’, which means revolution, was coined during Birsa Munda’s fight against the British for the rights of the tribals.
