INDIA bloc heavyweights unite in New Delhi, vow to take on BJP

Top INDIA bloc leaders gathered at the Ramlila Maidan on Sunday to express solidarity with arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and urged people to vote out the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls to ldquosave democracy and the ConstitutionrdquoThe leaders who were on the stage at the lsquoLoktantra Bachaorsquo save democracy rally included Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge former presidents Sonia and Rahul Gandhi NCPrsquos Sharad Pawar NC leader Farooq Abdullah Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray Left leaders Sitaram Yechury D Raja Dipankar Bhattacharya Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav RJDrsquos Tejashwi Yadav and TMCrsquos Derek OrsquoBrienCM Kejriwalrsquos wife Sunita Kejriwal and JMM leader Hemant Sorenrsquos wife Kalpana Soren were also addressed the gathering castigating the Central government over the arrest of their husbands in corruption cases Sunita Kejriwal read out a letter from her husband which she said he sent from the ED custodyVotes for LeftCong means votes for BJP MamataCM Mamata Banerjee accused its INDIA bloc partners CPI M and Congress of joining hands with the BJP in WB and asserted that the Opposition alliance has ceased to exist in the state She urged people not to cast their votes in favour of the LeftCongressISF alliance as voting for them would mean voting for the BJP ldquoThere is no INDIA alliance in WB I had played a key role in the formation of the opposition bloc Even its name was given by me But the CPI M and Congress are working for the BJP in the staterdquo she saidRSS BJP are like poison KhargeCongress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday described the RSSBJP combine as ldquopoisonrdquo that has ldquodestroyedrdquo the country and called on all opposition parties to unite to defeat the ruling party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections This election is to save democracy the country and the Constitution he said at lsquoLoktantra Bachaorsquo rally of the INDIA bloc leadersBJP being criticised across the world for arrest AkhileshSamajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the BJP is being criticised across the world for the arrest of Kejriwal and accused the ruling party at the Centre over peddling lies The BJP is also worried about losing power Yadav who arrived in the city for the INDIA Bloc rally at Ramlila ground told reporters at the airportCanrsquot keep CM behind bars for long SunitaTyranny wonrsquot work and CM Arvind Kejriwal cannot be kept behind bars for long said Sunita Kejriwal reading out her husbandrsquos message at the rally In her maiden speech Sunita also asked people whether Kejriwal should resign as Chief Minister ldquoThe BJP is demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Kejriwal Should he resign Is his arrest justified He is a lsquosherrsquo lion They wonrsquot be able to keep him behind bars for longrdquo she said Sunita thanked people for showering blessings on her husbandModirsquos guarantee like Chinese goods Tejashwi YadavIn a scathing attack on PM Modi RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav claimed that his guarantee is like Chinese goods and is only meant for polls as he urged people not to fall for the BJPrsquos propaganda Yadav alleged that an undeclared emergency was prevailing in the country and asserted that the Opposition will not let the RSS agenda to be implemented Yadav also sang lines from a Govindastarrer movie with a play on the lyrics ldquotum toh dhokebaaz ho vaada karke bhool jaate hordquo to allege PM didnrsquot fulfil his promisesPM trying to do matchfixing in polls RahulCongress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to do ldquomatchfixingrdquo in the Lok Sabha polls and asserted that if the BJP succeeds in its endeavours the countryrsquos Constitution will be changed and peoplersquos rights taken away Addressing the INDIA blocrsquos lsquoSave Democracyrsquo rally at the Ramlila Maidan here the former Congress chief said this is not an ordinary election but one to save the countryrsquos democracy and ConstitutionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever