By – Prakarsh Kastwar
Several opposition politicians have condemned the government over Hemant Soren’s arrest.
New Delhi : The chief ministers of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, and Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, have blasted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Enforcement Directorate’s detention of former chief minister Hemant Soren of Jharkhand.
Banerjee claimed the BJP is “jailing everyone” in order to win the Lok Sabha polls, while Stalin claimed the ruling party is attempting to intimidate the JMM president in an act that smacked of desperation.
Stalin claimed in a strongly written post on X that the national government, led by the BJP, was engaging in blatant political retribution with Hemant Soren’s detention.
“The arrest of Thiru Hemant Soren, the Honorable Chief Minister of Jharkhand, is a clear example of the Union BJP Government’s political vendetta. Harassing a tribal chief with the help of investigating authorities is a new low. This is the epitome of power abuse and desperation. Opposition voices won’t be silenced by the BJP’s nasty tricks,” he said on X.
https://x.com/mkstalin/status/1752965252281770381?s=20
He gave Soren a lot of credit for “refusing to bow down”.
“Through the BJP’s retaliatory politics, Thiru Hemant Soren remains firm and won’t back down. It is admirable how resilient he has been in the face of hardship. He wrote in the post, “His resolve to retaliate against the BJP’s bullying tactics is an inspiration.”
Mamata Banerjee attacks BJP
Banerjee claimed on Thursday that the BJP had imprisoned opposition politicians to win the 2018 general elections. “BJP is putting everyone in jail only to win the election,” Banerjee stated in a statement.
The ED detained Hemant Soren in connection with a money-laundering case shortly after he resigned as Jharkhand’s chief minister. Champai Soren, a minister in his ministry, will be named the new chief minister of the JMM-Congress coalition government.
The Aam Aadmi Party claimed that the arrest shows the BJP’s anti-tribal faith.
“Hemant Soren’s detention is an attempt by the BJP-led central government to target the opposition ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. I am confident that many more opposition leaders would be arrested within the next month…,” Delhi Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi stated on ‘X’.
My cabinet colleague Saurabh Bharadwaj said that leaders who do not submit before the BJP are imprisoned.
“Those whom the BJP accused of corruption have become chief ministers, deputy chief ministers, and ministers in BJP governments. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Ajit Pawar, Narayan Rane, Suvendu Adhikari, Chhagan Bhujbal, and Pema Khandu,” stated the AAP leader, who is part of the coalition established to challenge the BJP in the general elections.
“Those who do not bow cannot be suppressed and are not scared,” Bharadwaj wrote in a Hindi post on ‘X’.
Hemant Soren has been placed in 24-hour judicial custody. On Friday, the Supreme Court will hear his lawyers’ appeal to overturn his arrest.