Trinamool Congress to attend opposition rally in Ranchi on 21 April

The Trinamool Congress will attend the opposition rally to be held in Jharkhand's capital Ranchi on 21 April, sources said.

According to a source, former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana Soren called West Bengal chief minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee a few days ago to invite her to the rally.

While Banerjee herself is unlikely to attend due to the ongoing election campaign, the party will send its representatives.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is holding an "Ulgulan (revolution) maha rally" in Ranchi on 21 April, which will be attended by INDIA bloc parties.

Earlier, INDIA bloc parties held a joint 'Save India' rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on 31 March against the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren, and actions against other opposition leaders by central agencies.

The TMC, which is going solo in West Bengal for the Lok Sabha polls after the seat-sharing talks with the Congress failed, was represented in the rally by party leader Derek O'Brien and Sagarika Ghose.

O'Brien had announced at the rally that the TMC continues to be a part of the INDIA bloc.

The source said the decision on who would represent the TMC would be conveyed to the organisers around 18-19 April.

Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren was arrested by the ED on 31 January. He had resigned ahead of his arrest, after which Champai Soren took oath as the new chief minister of the state. Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 21 March.