The Congress ignited a political row on Friday after its Kerala unit shared a controversial tweet that compared Bihar to bidis while mocking the BJP over the recent GST reforms.

The post—quickly deleted—sparked outrage from the BJP and its ally JD(U), which accused the Congress of insulting Bihar just months ahead of the state elections due before November.

The Congress’s Kerala unit wrote, “Bidis and Bihar start with B. Cannot be considered sin anymore”.

It was accompanied by a chart highlighting the revised GST rates, which showed hikes on cigars, cigarettes, and tobacco from 28% to 40%, while the tax on bidis was slashed from 28% to 18%, effectively removing them from the “sin goods” category that attracts the highest GST rates.

Slamming the Congress, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary termed the remark an “insult to the entire state.”

“First, the insult to the revered mother of our honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, and now the insult to the entire Bihar. This is the true character of the Congress, which is repeatedly being exposed before the country,” Choudhary wrote.