VT Balram steps down as head of Kerala Cong’s social media wing

New Delhi: The Congress’ Kerala unit’s social media head has resigned after a controversial post drew criticism from political leaders across states. VT Balram, a two-time legislator from Kerala’s Thrithala constituency and until now the head of the the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) social media and digital cell, stepped down from his role, a day after the KPCC’s official handle on X posted a message linking Bihar with bidis in the context of recently announced Goods and Services Tax (GST) changes.

The statement, referencing the GST Council’s decision to reduce tax on bidis from 28 per cent to 18 per cent, while increasing rates on cigarettes, was widely interpreted as derogatory towards Bihar and its people. Bihar is among the country’s leading centres of bidi production, and the industry employs an estimated 70 lakh workers nationwide.

However, the KPCC president, Sunny Joseph, on Saturday admitted that there was a “mistake” and “lack of caution” while posting the “bidis and Bihar” jibe on the social media handle of the party’s state unit, a day after it was deleted following a political backlash.

Joseph said the ‘X’ post was deleted and an apology was tendered by the social media team as directed by the state leadership.

Kerala state unit of the Congress in a recent post on X, allegedly drew parallels between Bihar and Bidi (a tobacco product) in the wake of the recent GST reforms, and triggered sharp reactions from the BJP.

The now deleted post said, “Bidis and Bihar start with B. Cannot be considered sin anymore”.

Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has distanced itself from the Kerala Congress’ ‘X’ post, with party leader Tejashwi Yadav saying his party does not support it. “It was a wrong tweet,” the former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister said on Friday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, took this opportunity to attack the Congress and said it had insulted the people of Bihar. “First, the insult to the revered mother of our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and now the insult to the entire Bihar—this is the true character of the Congress, which is repeatedly being exposed before the country,” said BJP leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary in an ‘X’ post.