"What is wrong with Congress Party": BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad slams 'Bidis and Bihar' post

New Delhi [India], September 5 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday lambasted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for comparing 'Bihar with Bidi', warning that the party would make it an "issue" as the Congress MP is not even condemning the statement.
Addressing the press conference in the national capital, the BJP MP said, "What is wrong with the Congress Party? Congress Kerala compares Bihar with Bidi. First they abuse PM's mother, now this...Bihar, which gave birth to many prominent personalities Jay Prakash Narayan we are here because of him was from Bihar."
Launching a sharp attack on the Congress Party, Ravi Shankar asserted that Rahul Gandhi's truth has come out as he made drama out of Special Intensive Revision (SIR), and "went to the lowest for votes".
"Rahul and Sonia must listen...Your truth has come out, you made drama out of SIR, and you went to the lowest for votes. We are going to make it an issue. How can you compare Bihar to Bidi...And you are not even condemning it. This is a shame, and shame on the INDI alliance congress and the RJD," the BJP leader said.
Reacting to the same issue, RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari asked a question to the BJP about PM Modi's comment on the DNA of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.
"They have deleted the tweet. The entire country and world know of Bihar's honour and self-respect. What will the BJP say? When PM Modi had questioned the DNA of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, he had insulted the 14 crore people of the state. Why was the BJP silent at that time? When Biharis were being beaten up and forced out of Maharashtra and Gujarat, why was the BJP silent? What are they saying now? B for Bihar, B for Buddha's land, B for 'buddhijeevion (intellectuals) ki dharti' - this is the strength of Bihar, everyone knows this. So, they should not run this fake propaganda and agenda. They wanted to run a fake propaganda over insult to the mother of PM. People of Bihar rejected this yesterday and turned the bandh into 'super flop'..." the RJD leader told ANI.
Earlier in the day, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha also hit out at Congress, calling it a "shameful" and "unfortunate insult" to the people of Bihar.
The Deputy Chief Minister asserted that Bihar is the pride of India, being the birthplace of many religions and home to ancient centers of learning like Nalanda and Vikramashila.
Speaking to reporters, the Deputy CM said, "This is unfortunate. The entire country will give a reply to such an insult to Biharis. Bihar has been the symbol of pride of the children of Maa Bharati. People do not have the knowledge that Bihar has been the architect of 'Akhand Bharat', it has been the land of knowledge and science, and this is the land of origin of several religions...By raising questions on Bihar, they are questioning the entire country. Those who question the nation are traitors."
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.
This comes after the Kerala unit of the Congress party shared a controversial 'X' post, captioned, "Bidis and Bihar start with B". However, after facing backlash, the post was deleted.
The 'X' post from the Kerala Congress targeted the recent GST reforms brought by the Union Government, where the tax rates on Cigar, Cigarettes and Tobacco were increased to 40 per cent. In contrast, the rates on Bidis were brought down from 28 to 18 per cent. (ANI)