The Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress locked horns in Bihar on Friday over a social media post by the opposition party, which allegedly made disparaging remarks about the state while criticising the reduction in GST rates for "bidis".
Leaders like Union Minister Nityanand Rai and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, both former state BJP presidents, came out with strongly worded statements against the X post of Kerala unit of the Congress, which has since been deleted.
In the post, a chart depicting a hike in proposed GST for cigars, cigarettes and tobacco, from the existing 28 per cent to 40 per cent, and a reduction in the same for "bidis" (18 per cent) was shown with the remark "bidis and Bihar begin with B. Cannot be considered a sin any more".
Sharing a screenshot on his X handle, Choudhary wrote, "First Prime Minister Narendra Modi was insulted. Now, entire Bihar has been insulted. This is the character of the Congress".
The allusion was to abusive language used in Darbhanga district last week during Rahul Gandhi's 'Voter Adhikar Yatra'.
Rai alleged in a statement, "The Bihari pride (asmita) is under attack from the Congress and the RJD and Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav are the two masterminds (sutradhaar)".
"The people of Bihar, however, are known for having patience and faith in Constitutional norms. They will teach these parties a lesson at appropriate time", said Rai, in an apparent reference to the upcoming assembly polls.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad condemned the Kerala Congress' post as "shameful" and said people of Bihar will give a reply to "this insult of Biharis" in the upcoming assembly polls.
"It (Congress) insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother (recently) and did not apologise for it so far. And, now (it) insulted Bihar's dignity and Biharis," the former Union minister charged.
"Rahul Gandhi, what are you doing?" he asked, adding, "You do not care about the history of Bihar. Will you compare Bihar with bidi?"
Prasad also took on RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, saying he did not have "courage" to condemn such an insult of Biharis by the Congress' Kerala unit.
"The Congress and Tejashwi Yadav, we want to warn you that we will make it a very big issue in the Bihar elections and expose you," the Lok Sabha MP from Bihar's Patna Sahib constituency said.
"People of the country and Bihar are watching. We will give a befitting reply to this People of Bihar will give you a reply," he added.
Lashing out at the Congress, Union minister Piyush Goyal said the opposition party has again demonstrated its negative and petty mindset by insulting people of Bihar. Voters have repeatedly rejected the Congress which is in frustration and disintegrating, with the Gandhi family no longer popular, he said.
The party sometimes attacks courts or the Election Commission, he said, alleging that Prime Narendra Modi has been repeatedly abused by its leaders.
People of Bihar will give a befitting reply to the Congress and RJD, he said.
As the Kerala Congress' post on X kicked up a political row, Yadav told reporters that an apology should be extended if any objectionable comment has been made with regard to Bihar.
State Congress president Rajesh Kumar responded to the BJP's tirade saying "The post has been deleted in order to honour public sentiment. But, the ruling BJP-led NDA is distorting facts. B for Bihar was written to underscore that the GST rates have been amended with an eye on assembly polls".
"Bidis are called sin goods as smoking these has an adverse impact on health. But the GST rate rationalisation, in which both Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Samrat Choudhary, who holds the portfolio in the state, would promote smoking", said the BPCC president.
He added, "On the other hand, long-standing demand to bring petrol and diesel under the purview of GST has not been accepted, though it would have been a big relief to common people who are reeling under soaring prices".
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