Sunita Kejriwal, Kalpana Soren top INDIA bloc leaders in Ranchi’s Ulgulan Nyay rally today

Leaders from 14 political parties, including Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, RJD’s Lalu Prasad, NC’s Farooq Abdullah, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, and Sunita Kejriwal, wife of jailed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, are set to participate in opposition INDIA bloc’s ‘Ulgulan Nyay rally’ scheduled in Jharkhand’s Ranchi on Sunday, April 21.

In what could be seen as an INDIA bloc’s ‘show of strength’, the rally will be led by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in Ranchi’s Prabhat Tara ground.

In a joint press conference, the bloc leaders claimed that the rally has the support of 28 parties and over five lakh people from across the state will take part in it.

INDIA bloc’s ‘Ulgulan Nyay rally’: 10 updates

Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren on Saturday claimed the Centre’s “dictatorial” approach would be exposed during the opposition INDIA bloc’s ‘Ulgulan Nyay rally’.

Champai Soren said after the arrest of former chief minister Hemant Soren, the JMM carried out a ‘Nyay Yatra’ across the state seeking justice for him. “We need to stop the dictatorship and save our democracy and the constitution. Everyone knows what happened in Jharkhand and Delhi. We will expose the dictatorial approach of the Centre at the mega rally,” he said.

The rally would be attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Punjab CM and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, JMM leader Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren among top leaders from several INDIA parties.

JMM general secretary and central spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said they have received consent from the leaders of 14 parties till Wednesday.

Supriyo Bhattacharya said Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Derek O’Brien from TMC, Priyanka Chaturvedi from Shiv Sena (UBT), Dipankar Bhattacharya from CPI (ML) and others would also participate in the rally.

Due to the Lok Sabha election schedule in south India, some of the leaders from there might not come but they have extended their support, Supriyo Bhattacharya said.

Champai Soren and Kalpana Soren would be prominent speakers at the rally.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, after arriving in Ranchi on Sunday morning, said, “My message is very clear that we are together in this fight against BJP’s growing autocracy…They are not allowing the opposition to function properly. What they are trying to do is to silence the opposition. We are seeing a high rate of inflation, joblessness and women not getting a safe environment… In the first phase of the election, not many people, but those who have come out to vote have come out to change these people (BJP), who have been showing this dictatorial tendency.”

The Jharkhand Bharatiya Janata Party termed the INDIA bloc’s mega rally as “the great family get-together show”.

State BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo at a press conference said, “This is just a group of parties that want to promote their families. They have come together on one platform due to the fear of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign against corruption in the country.”