Top INDIA bloc leaders in a huddle after arrest of Hemant Soren

New Delhi: Top leaders of the opposition bloc INDIA met on Wednesday evening and discussed the situation arising after the resignation and arrest of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

The meeting at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence was attended by Sonia Gandhi, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and DMK leader T R Baalu, among others.

Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is a constituent of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), formed by more than two dozen opposition parties to take on the BJP unitedly in the Lok Sabha elections due in April-May.

Soren was arrested on Wednesday in a money laundering case linked to alleged land fraud after he resigned as the Jharkhand chief minister. State transport minister Champai Soren's name has been proposed as the new chief minister.

The Congress is part of the ruling coalition in Jharkhand.