Today in Politics: Stage set for INDIA bloc’s show of strength in Ranchi; Sunita Kejriwal, Kalpana Soren to take centre stage

Three weeks after the Opposition INDIA bloc held a mega rally in Delhi, senior leaders from the alliance are set to come together in a joint show of strength in Ranchi’s Prabhat Tara ground on Sunday.

The event, called the ‘Ulgulan (uprising) Nyay rally’, would be attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM leader Champai Soren, Punjab CM and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh among top leaders from several INDIA parties.

The rally being held amidst the Lok Sabha polls would keep the focus on the arrest of the JMM’s ex-Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and the AAP’s Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, two of the key faces of the Opposition bloc, by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over the last few months. Both Kejriwal and Soren have been in judicial custody. Their wives, Sunita Kejriwal and Kalpana Soren, are also expected to address the rally among others.

CM Champai Soren asserted Saturday that the BJP-led central government’s “dictatorial” approach would be exposed at the rally, which he said would be a “historic event”. “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.

Jharkhand is going to polls from the fourth phase on April 13.

Amit Shah in Bihar, Assam

In next-door Bihar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hold a public meeting in Katihar in favour of NDA candidate Dulal Chand Goswami. He will then head to Assam, where two crucial seats in the Barak Valley go to the polls in the second phase on April 26.

Shah will hold a roadshow in Silchar in support of party candidate Parimal Suklabaidya from