Patna, Sep 5 (PTI) The BJP and Congress locked horns in Bihar on Friday over a social media post by the opposition party, which allegedly made disparaging remarks about the state while criticising the reduction in GST rates for "bidis".

Leaders like Union Minister Nityanand Rai and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, both former state BJP presidents, came out with strongly worded statements against the X post of Kerala unit of the Congress, which has since been deleted.

In the post, a chart depicting a hike in proposed GST for cigars, cigarettes and tobacco, from the existing 28 per cent to 40 per cent, and a reduction in the same for "bidis" (18 per cent) was shown with the remark "bidis and Bihar begin with B. Cannot be considered a sin any more".

Sharing a screenshot on his X handle, Choudhary wrote, "First Prime Minister Narendra Modi was insulted. Now, entire Bihar has been insulted. This is the character of the Congress".

The allusion was to abusive language used in Darbhanga district last week during Rahul Gandhi's 'Voter Adhikar Yatra'.

Rai alleged in a statement, "The Bihari pride (asmita) is under attack from the Congress and the RJD and Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav are the two masterminds (sutradhaar)".

"The people of Bihar, however, are known for having patience and faith in Constitutional norms. They will teach these parties a lesson at appropriate time", said Rai, in an apparent reference to the upcoming assembly polls.

State Congress president Rajesh Kumar responded to the BJP's tirade saying "The post has been deleted in order to honour public sentiment. But, the ruling BJP-led NDA is distorting facts. B for Bihar was written to underscore that the GST rates have been amended with an eye on assembly polls".

"Bidis are called sin goods as smoking these has an adverse impact on health. But the GST rate rationalisation, in which both Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Samrat Choudhary, who holds the portfolio in the state, would promote smoking", said the BPCC president.

He added, "On the other hand, long-standing demand to bring petrol and diesel under the purview of GST has not been accepted, though it would have been a big relief to common people who are reeling under soaring prices". PTI NAC MNB

GST rate rationalisation sparks political row over alleged electoral motive and health impacts in state debate A deleted social media post highlighting a proposed GST reduction for bidis and higher proposed rates for other tobacco products triggered a political dispute; opponents condemned the post as insulting and linked the GST rationalisation to promotion of a sin good and alleged electoral motives, while critics contrasted this change with unmet demands to include fuels under GST.