The Congress party’s Kerala unit has been hit by controversy after its social media head, VT Balaram, stepped down on Saturday following widespread outrage over a post that linked Bihar with bidis.

The post in question read, “B for beedi, B for Bihar,” and quickly triggered backlash from political leaders and citizens across states. Balaram, a former two-time MLA from Thrithala and currently Vice President of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), had been leading the party’s social media and digital cell.

The KPCC originally shared the message in the context of the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms. It stated, “Bidis and Bihar start with B. Cannot be considered a sin anymore.” The remark was tied to the decision to remove bidis from the category of ‘sin goods’, which are usually taxed at the highest GST slab of 40%. The timing of the post, just before the Bihar elections, drew accusations of insensitivity and political miscalculation.

The party had also shared a GST rate chart highlighting the changes: tax on cigars and cigarettes rising from 28% to 40%, tobacco from 28% to 40%, while tax on bidis was cut from 28% to 18%. This effectively placed bidis outside the ‘sin goods’ category.

Facing heavy criticism, the Kerala Congress deleted the post and later issued an apology, saying, “We see that our jibe at Modi's election gimmick with GST rates is being twisted. Our apologies if you felt hurt.”

The controversy also drew sharp political responses. Bihar’s deputy chief minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary slammed the post as an “insult to the entire Bihar.” Similarly, JDU leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kumar Jha described it as “another extremely shameful act.”