New Delhi [India], September 5 : Union Minister Chirag Paswan attacked the Congress party on Friday, accusing them of "defaming" the people of Bihar by comparing them to 'bidis.' Paswan said that the comments by Kerala Congress are indicative of the whole party's "thinking", which is leaving no stone unturned to "defame" the people of the state.
Demanding an answer from the Opposition party, he told ANI, "This is not just the thinking of Kerala Congress, it is the thinking of the Congress party. They have never left any stone unturned in defaming Biharis."
"The Congress's mindset has always been against Biharis. Congress needs to answer how low they will stoop in terms of language for political gains," he added.
The Union Minister's remarks are made in response to a now-deleted post by the Kerala unit of the Congress party. The post criticising the recently passed GST reforms highlighted the 40 per cent GST rate on 'sinful' products like cigars and cigarettes, while bidis have an 18 per cent rate.
"Bidis and Bihar start with B. Cannot be considered a sin anymore," the Kerala Congress said in a now-deleted post.
The post has received condemnation from various other political leaders, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, calling it a "shameful" and "unfortunate insult" to the people.
He further asserted that Bihar is the pride of India, being the birthplace of many religions and home to ancient centres of learning like Nalanda and Vikramashila.
The Deputy CM demanded action against those who insult any state or its people, labelling such behaviour as "unpatriotic" and "unconstitutional". "Those who question any state and insult it cannot be the children of Maa Bharati. Such people deserve punishment, action should be taken," Vijay Kumar added.
Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary also criticised the Congress over the issue, asserting that following the insult of PM Narendra Modi's mother, Bihar is now being insulted, which shows the "true character of the Congress party."