Political storm erupts in Bihar over Congress’ ‘B for…’ blunder

A political storm erupted in Bihar on Friday over a controversial social media post by the Kerala Congress that said, “B for Bidi, B for Bihar.” The BJP and JD(U) launched a sharp attack on the Congress, stating that the Congress and its leaders have repeatedly insulted Bihar and the people of the state.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also reacted to the post, saying that if any objectionable comment has been made about Bihar, then an apology must be issued.

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Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram issued a clarification saying that the tweet was deleted and an apology was tendered.

But leaders from political parties, including the BJP and JD(U), refused to ignore “the insult”.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary connected this post with earlier abusive comments directed at PM Modi’s mother and said that the true character of the Congress is being revealed again and again.

He stated, “The Congress first insulted Prime Minister Modi’s mother, and now they have insulted the entire state of Bihar. This is the real face of Congress, which is continuously being exposed before the nation. The people of Bihar will not forgive this.”

JD(U) leader and Bihar Minister Ashok Choudhary said, “This post clearly shows the amount of hatred and malice Congress leaders hold in their hearts against Bihar. On one hand, their leaders come here and organise campaigns like ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra,’ stay in Bihar for 17 days, try to attract people towards them, and then go back and insult Bihar by equating it with Bidi.”

Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram accused the BJP-JD(U) of spreading misinformation and maliciously linking the post to an insult to Bihar to defame the Congress. He clarified that it was actually “BJP-JD(U) that compared Bihar to Bidi.”

“We respected public sentiment, deleted the tweet, and also clarified that if anyone was hurt, we apologise. But BJP-JD(U) deliberately distorted the context of the tweet without understanding it, and used it to defame Congress and insult Bihar,” he said.

The Congress leader said: “In reality, the phrase ‘B for Bihar’ was used because a decision was made in the context of Bihar elections. Bihar BJP’s Finance Minister Samrat Choudhary decided to reduce taxes on Bidi. This was acknowledged by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman herself during a press conference, where she admitted that Samrat Choudhary played a role in rate rationalisation.”

“It should be noted that Bidi falls under the category of sin goods. Reducing its tax and thereby indirectly encouraging its consumption is unfortunate and concerning,” he added.