Overview

• The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee posted on X, then deleted, “Bidis and Bihar start with B. Cannot be considered a sin anymore,” and later wrote, “Our apologies if you felt hurt.”
• BJP’s Samrat Choudhary called the message an insult to the entire state, while JD(U)’s Sanjay Kumar Jha termed it “extremely shameful” and taunted the Congress’s “buddhi.”
• RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said an apology was necessary if such a remark was made, and Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain said the party would ask the Kerala unit to retract.
• The controversy stems from recent GST Council changes that cut the bidi rate to 18% and tendu leaves to 5% while moving cigarettes and other tobacco products to a 40% slab.
• NDA leaders said they will press the issue before voters in poll-bound Bihar, linking it to recent tensions from the Darbhanga abusive-remarks episode.