Kerala Congress Unit’s Social Media Head VT Balram Resigns After Backlash Over 'Bidis-Bihar' Post

Kerala: Congress party’s Kerala unit social media chief, VT Balaram, resigned on Saturday following a backlash over a controversial post linking Bihar with bidis. The post, which read “B for beedi, B for Bihar,” drew criticism from political leaders across several states.

Balaram, a former two-time MLA from Kerala’s Thrithala constituency, served as the head of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) social media and digital cell. He is also the Vice President-Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee.

What Was The Post?

The KPCC had shared the post in the context of recently announced Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms, stating, “Bidis and Bihar start with B. Cannot be considered a sin anymore.” The post was related to a proposal to remove bidis from the list of ‘sin goods’, items that attract the highest GST slab of 40%, just ahead of the Bihar state polls.

The move appeared to backfire, leading to widespread criticism. The party later deleted the post and issued an apology.

Accompanying the post was a chart outlining the new GST rates, showing that the tax on cigars and cigarettes was increased from 28% to 40%, on tobacco from 28% to 40%, while the levy on bidis was cut from 28% to 18%. This effectively removed bidis from the ‘sin goods’ category, which attracts the highest (40%) GST rates.

Kerala Congress Issues Apology

After the backlash, the Kerala Congress said, "We see that our jibe at Modi's election gimmick with GST rates is being twisted. Our apologies if you felt hurt."

Bihar deputy chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Samrat Choudhary called the post an "insult to the entire Bihar".

JDU leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kumar Jha also criticised the Congress, calling it “another extremely shameful act”.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav distanced his party from the post, calling it “wrong” and stating that his party does not support it.