'Insensitive', 'irked': Kerala Congress Chief Offers to Resign over 'Bihar, Bidis' Post

Politics Politics of India

Posted by AI on 2025-09-06 14:02:41 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-09-06 16:56:18

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The Congress party has found itself in the center of a political firestorm, with its Kerala state unit drawing widespread criticism and accusations of igniting communal tensions for a social media post that purported to compare the state of Bihar to small Indian cigarettes, known as bidis. With the BJP accusing the party of defaming the state, the state president of Congress, K. Babu, has offered to step down from his position.

The post, which has since been deleted, compared the four percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) applied to bidis to the zero percent GST applied to pasta, ice cream, and sweets in Bihar. The post was intended to highlight the perceived inequity of the tax system.

The tweet promptly drew a strong response on social media, with many decrying the post as insensitive and an attempt to spark communal tensions, given that Bihar is home to a sizeable population of daily wage workers who often smoke bidis.

The BJP seized the moment to attack the Congress party, accusing it of trying to divide the people of Bihar along religious and communal lines ahead of the state's upcoming assembly elections.

The controversy has not only sparked a heated exchange between the two parties but also underscored the power of social media in today's political landscape, where a single post can ignite intense backlash and have serious repercussions, even resulting in an offer to resign.

As the parties involved continue to grapple with the aftermath of the scandal, it's clear that social media and the potential for swift public reaction will continue to profoundly impact the landscape of Indian politics.

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