‘Went to Delhi to buy undergarments’: Jharkhand CM’s brother Basant Soren

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s brother Basant Soren on Thursday (September 8) gave a bizarre explanation for his absence from the state during the recent political crisis.

Basant, who is an MLA from Dumka, said he was in Delhi to purchase undergarments.

“I had run out of undergarments, so I went to Delhi to purchase them. I get them from there. The political crisis is a normal thing and it keeps happening,” Basant, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislator said in a video tweeted by news agency ANI.

Also read: Jharkhand CM wins trust vote; says BJP ‘trying to destabilise elected govts’

Basant’s comments come amid rape and murder of two girls in Dumka. He visited the victims’ families on Thursday.

A 14-year-old tribal girl, who was allegedly sexually exploited by a man on the pretext of marriage, was found hanging from a tree in Dumka district. The minor’s mother alleged that her daughter was raped, killed, and hanged from the tree in an area under Mufassil police station last Friday.

In another incident on August 23, a man identified as Shahrukh allegedly poured petrol on a 16-year-old girl from outside the window of her room when she was sleeping and set her on fire. The teenager, who reportedly had spurned his advances, succumbed to her injuries on August 28.

The BJP and several others on social media slammed Basant for his remarks.

Also read: Damocles’ sword hangs over his head, but Soren shows he’s unperturbed

BJP MLA from Godda, Nishikant Dubey, tweeted in Hindi, “The son of Shibu Soren, leader of the poor and tribals, goes to Delhi to buy undergarments… for this reason he couldn’t meet the victim’s families.”

ग़रीबों व आदिवासीयों के नेता शिबू सोरेन यानि गुरू जी के पुत्र अब अंडर गारमेन्ट्स ख़रीदने दुमका से दिल्ली आते हैं? भजन मंडली,जले,बूझे,तड़पते,टिमटिमाते,भभकते पत्रकारों के लिए क्योंकि इसी कारण दुमका की आदिवासी बेटी व अंकिता की हत्या के बाद भी उस परिवार को फ़ुरसत नहीं था

— Dr Nishikant Dubey (@nishikant_dubey) September 7, 2022

Jharkhand is witnessing a political crisis as CM Hemant may be disqualified as an MLA after a petition by the BJP seeking his disqualification from the Assembly in an office of profit case.

Also read: Suspended Jharkhand BJP leader Seema Patra arrested for allegedly torturing tribal help

On Monday, Hemant won the trust vote amid a walkout staged by BJP legislators. As many as 48 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion in the 81-member Assembly.

Speaking during the one-day special session, Soren said the need for trust vote was felt as BJP was “attempting to destabilise democratically elected governments” in non-BJP ruled states, including Jharkhand.

He alleged that the BJP was trying to create a “civil war-like situation in country by fuelling riots to win elections”.