Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren wearing slippers while taking the guard of honour
Newly sworn-in Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday took to Twitter to issue a clarification on the picture in which he is seen taking the guard-of-honour in slippers. “People have pointed it out to me that taking the guard of honour in slippers is not in line with established norms and practices. The fact, however, is that I wanted to relieve the policemen who had been waiting for me in heavy rain and get done with the event as soon as possible,” the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief wrote on his Twitter account.
“Secondly, it is a colonial legacy to take the guard of honour in just shoes. I don’t respect the tradition and want to scrap it as soon as possible. It is more important that policemen serve the people than being engaged in such outdated practices,” the CM said.
Soren was sworn-in as Jharkhand’s chief minister on December 29, in an event in Ranchi that was attended by leaders from the opposition camp, including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK) President MK Stalin among others.
The grand alliance of JMM-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) sprung up a major surprise on the BJP last month in the recently concluded state elections, winning 47 seats in the 81-member assembly.
