Govt talks of Swacch Bharat, ex-J'khand CM seen urinating in open

Former Jharkhand chief minister and JMM working president Hemant Soren was addressing a rally in Palamu's Nawa Bazar, on Wednesday. He was taken aback as he could not find a toilet in the proximity of the venue and was forced to attend nature's call in the open. The development comes even as the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre claims that a major part of the nation has been made open defecation free.

Palamu (Jharkhand): In an embarassing incident, former Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM working president Hemant Soren was forced to attend nature's call in the open while campaigning in Palamu.

With campaigning for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls reaching the fag end, the JMM working president was addressing a rally in Palamu's Nawa Bazar, when he wished to take a break to attend nature's call.

Soren though was taken aback as he could not find a toilet in the proximity of the venue. As a result, he was forced to break away from his security and was caught urinating in the open area behind the venue.

The development comes even as the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre claims that a major part of the nation has been made open defecation free.

Even in his Interim Budget speech, temporary Finance Minister Piyush Goyal had said that the country has achieved 98 per cent rural sanitation coverage, and as many as 5.45 lakh villages have been declared 'Open Defecation Free'.

"As a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary in 2019, our Government initiated the world’s largest behavioural change movement with the Swachh Bharat Mission. It is a holistic programme and has succeeded in changing the mindset of our people," he had said.

This could also be a reality check for Soren about Jharkhand's deficient sanitary conditions, as his party, JMM, has been a dominant force in the state.

However, this is not the first such incident. In October last year, a photograph of a Rajasthan minister urinating near a wall in Ajmer, right next to a campaign poster featuring chief minister Vasundhara Raje had gone viral on social media.

The minister, Shambhu Singh Khatesar, had defended himself by saying that urinating in the open was "an age-old tradition" and he had done nothing wrong.