The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha working president Hemant Soren kicked up a storm on Wednesday after he claimed that BJP politician’s clad in saffron outfits “do not marry but rape women”. The chief of the Congress ally made the vulgar remark on the last day of campaigning for the fifth phase of Jharkhand Assembly elections.
Targeting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren while addressing a public rally in Jharkhand’s Pakur, said, “Aaj desh mein bahut-betiyon ko jalaya ja raha hai…Mujhe pata chala ki idhar UP CM Yogi ji bhi chakkar laga rhe hain gerua pehen ke. (Many women have been set ablaze recently. I have heard Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi was roaming around here wearing saffron).”
“Ye woh log hain BJP ke log jo shaadi kum karte hain lekin gerua pehen bahu-betiyon ki izzat lootne ka kaam karte hain”, roughly translated as (These are those BJP people who wear saffron clothes, remain unmarried and sexually assault women), Hemant Soren, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief, said.
Continuing his veiled attack, Soren said that in Uttar Pradesh, rapists are being given shelter in the hospital while the victim is being punished in jails. “Will we vote for those who have ruined the lives of so many daughters?”, asked the former Jharkhand CM while addressing the public rally.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also in Jharkhand on Tuesday and addressed a rally in Deoghar ahead of the final phase voting in the state.
The incumbent government in Jharkhand is led by the BJP-AJSU alliance. The Congress, JMM and the RJD have stitched an alliance hoping to wrestle the BJP government in the state. Hemant Soren is the chief minister candidate of the alliance. While addressing the rally, Hemant Soren also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of failing to protect women and giving protection to criminals.
Incidentally, in September this year, Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who has a habit of making slanderous statements against the Hindus, had stoked a similar controversy by claiming that people wearing Saffron are committing rapes inside the temples these days.
The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said people wearing Saffron clothes are the ones committing rapes inside the temple and this was not Hindu religion.
He added that it is a matter of concern that people are defaming ‘Sanatan Dharma’. Singh further added that and even god will not forgive those who are doing these things in the name of religion.
The fifth and the last phase of Jharkhand Assembly elections will take place on December 20 and the counting of votes will be held on December 23.