A state minister in India's Tamil Nadu has stoked a political row since saying that people from Bihar are less intelligent than Tamils, who are being robbed of their jobs in the own state.
"Lalu Prasad Yadav as railways minister had packed the railways with Biharis, especially at lower-level jobs, even though Biharis were less brainy than Tamils", Tamil Nadu State Minister K. N. Nehru alleged.
Yadav, a popular Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, has served as both the state chief of Bihar and India's railway minister (2004-2009).
After a video clip of the state minister's comment went viral, many people were infuriated by his remarks and took to Twitter to vent as well as make the hashtag #proudbihari trend.
Notably, Prashant Kishor, a political strategist for Nehru's party in the last state assembly elections (April 2021), is also from Bihar.
Politicians across party lines are also criticising Tamil Nadu State Minister Nehru for his insensitive remark.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentarian Manoj Tiwari said that he's a "proud Bihari" and is not afraid to take any risks, noting the abuse levelled at his community is unacceptable and condemnable.
Earlier this week, BJP politician Nishikant Dubey alleged in a tweet in Hindi that Trinamool Congress (TMC) member Mahua Moitra too racially abused him for coming from Bihar.