Union Minister Piyush Goyal today retracted a controversial comment about Bihar that had sparked protests in parliament by MPs and demanded an apology.
The minister had made the remark when RJD member Manoj Jha spoke about inflation in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Piyush Goyal interrupted Mr. Jha and had said, “Inka bas chale to desh ko Bihar bana dein (If he had his way, he would turn the whole country into Bihar)”.
Mr. Jha immediately protested. “Sir, this is an insult to Bihar. Piyush ji, with folded hands I urge you, say what you want about me, but please don’t comment on Bihar,” he said.
This morning, Piyush Goyal gave a clarification as Bihar MPs pressed for his apology.
“Let me clarify that I do not intend to insult Bihar or people of Bihar. If it has hurt anyone’s sentiment, I will withdraw that statement immediately,” said the minister in Rajya Sabha.
Bihar MPs accused Mr Goyal of demeaning their state by using it as a pejorative term.
“Piyush Goyal, apologies. We will not tolerate insulting Bihar,” MPs chanted during a protest in parliament this morning.
Yesterday, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav shared the clip of the exchange between his party MP and Mr Goyal.
“Look at the insult to Bihar and Biharis by an ill-advised and arrogant (vivekheen aur ahankari) Union minister. Projects worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore were taken away from his home state of Maharashtra to Gujarat and he was unable to utter a word. This shows his position,” Tejashwi Yadav said on Twitter.
Manoj Jha has written a letter to Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, the chairman of Rajya Sabha, demanding an apology from the minister and urging him to remove the comment which he said was inappropriate and smacked of “elitism”.
Mr Jha said Mr Goyal had shown insensitivity towards Bihar and complained that the people of Bihar were “always treated as second class citizens”.
“I request that you delete his statement and take the necessary steps so that no other state in the country is subjected to such treatment by the Union government,” Mr Jha wrote.