The Congress party has found itself in another row after its Kerala unit likened Bihar and ‘bidi’, saying the two cannot be considered a sin anymore. The remark was aimed at taking a jibe at the Centre’s revamped Goods and Service Tax (GST) rates, but it snowballed.  The Kerala Congress apologised and deleted the post as well, but the damage has already been done. 

Poll-bound Bihar is a crucial state for the opposition’s Mahagathbandhan, and the row may hit their prospects as leaders of the BJP-led NDA continue to attack the grand-old party and its allies for the statement. The Kerala Congress shared a post on X to target Centre on modified GST rates for bidis.

“Bidis and Bihar start with B. Cannot be considered a sin anymore,” it said in the post, along with a chart showing the current and proposed GST on the tobacco products. But the remark soon triggered a political fire, forcing the party to delete the post and apologise.

“We see that our jibe at Modi’s election gimmick with GST rates is being twisted. Our apologies if you felt hurt,” it said.

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The BJP has called the remark an insult for Bihar, adding that the people of the state will not forgive the same. Reacting to the post, BJP State President Dilip Jaiswal said the way Kerala Congress insulted the people of Bihar today by saying ‘B for Bidi and B for Bihari,’ the people of Bihar will never forgive this. 

“What could be a bigger insult to Biharis than this? Rahul Gandhi and Congress leaders must answer why such an insult was made against Biharis and why they were demeaned in this manner…” he added. 

Ajay Alok of the saffron party said the Congress called Bihar a bidi. “A bidi also burns, and when it burns, it destroys the entire ecosystem” he added.

Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey said if Congress has made any such tweet, it is disrespectful to the people of Bihar. “Congress has always insulted Biharis,” he added. 

BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad expressed surprise on how Congress can “stoop so low”. “What has happened to the Congress party? A social media post from the Kerala branch of the Congress claimed that Bihar is the same as Bidi. Are you really comparing Bihar to Bidi? How low can you stoop?” he asked. 

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“Insults and abuses were hurled at the Prime Minister’s mother, yet no apology has been offered. Now, the pride of Bihar and its people has been directly insulted. Rahul Gandhi, what are you doing…” he added while recalling the abuses directed at PM Narendra Modi and his deceased mother at a rally in Bihar. 

BJP responds with a ‘C for crass’, ‘R for regressive’ remark

Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary said that first the leaders insulted the “revered mother of our honorable Prime Minister Shri @narendramodiji, and now the insult to the entire Bihar”

He called it “true character of the Congress”, which he said is repeatedly being “exposed before the country.”

BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan also slammed the Congress party over its post and wrote on X, “C in crass & Congress, R in regressive & Rahul Gandhi defines the hate and contempt the Congress party has for Bihar.”

“The Congress pejoratively likening Bidi to Bihar is an outright attack on every citizen of Bihar. The Congress may have deleted their tweet hurriedly but the depraved condescending mindset of the congress party toward people of Bihar cannot be erased away. People of Bihar will teach the Congress party a fitting lesson for this and the insults hurled at late mother of PM from the congress-rjd platform,” he added.