Between The Two Chief Ministers Arrested, The ‘Tribal’ CM Is Yet Behind Bars
Amid the ongoing elections, as we draw closer to the end, yet another controversy has emerged in the charged political environment. During a session in Haryana’s Panchkula titled ‘Samvidhan Samman Sammelan,’ Rahul Gandhi made remarks about the arrests of the Chief Ministers of Delhi and Jharkhand.
Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in January this year due to a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. He is presently in judicial custody, having been unable to secure any interim relief from the courts.
On the other hand, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March concerning the Delhi liquor policy case. The Supreme Court granted him interim bail until June 1.
Rahul Gandhi compared the arrests of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, highlighting that a “tribal Chief Minister” remains behind bars.
“It is clearly mentioned in our Constitution that every citizen in the country should be treated equally. So my simple question is, what is the participation of 90 percent of people? Whether it is media or bureaucracy, 90 per cent of people are not a part of it… it is as if they don’t exist,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“Two Chief Ministers were arrested. The Adivasi Chief Minister (Hemant Soren) is still in jail. He was arrested before and is still behind bars. The national media has forgotten him; it doesn’t talk about him… Mayawati is corrupt but not Naveen Patnaik, Lalu Yadav is corrupt… if someone is tribal or Dalit, he is automatically framed,” he added.
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Rahul Gandhi expressed that the system significantly favors higher castes, drawing from his personal insight gained through his family’s prime ministerial legacy—both his grandmother and father held these positions. He also mentioned visiting the Prime Minister’s residence during Manmohan Singh’s tenure.
“In the prime minister’s house, when my grandmother and later father were PM and later Dr Manmohan Singh, I used to go, so I know the system from inside. And I am saying the system is aligned against lower castes in a major way (bhayankar tareeke sey) at every level,” he said.
He emphasized that around 90% of the country’s population, which includes Dalits, OBCs, tribal communities, and minorities, lacks representation in the national narrative and power structure.
“How can it be that 90 per cent do not have merit? It cannot be so. So, there must be something lacking in the system. I found it. I dug out all the figures,” he said.
“In the media, senior anchors, senior influencers, media owners, senior managers — not even one is a Dalit, tribal or OBC. I did not find even one,” he claimed.