January 22, 2025

Piyush Goyal Must Apologize For Insulting The People Of Bihar

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-12-23 06:50:28

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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

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"Inka bas chale to desh ko Bihar bana dein"(if it was left to them, they would turn the entire country into Bihar). Union Minister Piyush Goyal said so in the Rajya Sabha.  Unable to digest criticism of the NDA government from RJD member Manoj Jha who was speaking on inflation and the state of the economy, Goyal made this derogatory remark.

Jha, who is from Bihar, immediately took umbrage. He said that the minister can call him whatever names he wanted to but must refrain from defaming the state. There was uproar in parliament and MPs wanted the minister to apologize unconditionally. Goyal withdrew his statement but did not issue an apology.

What exactly did Goyal mean by what he said? There is a general perception in public mind (outside Bihar) that Bihar is a state where corruption, goondaism and mediocrity rule (which is not entirely true) and it is behind in all development metrics (which is mostly true). Hence, when someone says "desh ko Bihar bana dein", it is often seen as a derogatory remark. It was an offensive remark coming from a Union minister.

If Bihar is seen as a backward, corrupt and lawless state, the BJP too must share part of the blame as it ruled the state in alliance with Nitish Kumar. What did the party do to develop the state and rectify the general perception of the people outside the state? If now a Union minister speaks about the state in derogatory terms, he is definitely insulting the state and its people.

Although Goyal has withdrawn the remark and it has obviously been removed from House records, as a gentleman, a Member of Parliament and a Union Minister, he should also apologize to the people of Bihar. That would be the best way to rectify his mistake.