Trinamool Congress MLA Manoranjan Byapari on Tuesday sparked controversy after he called people from Bihar a "bimaari" or disease and says West Bengal should be "disease-free", in a video that has gone viral. The TMC leader invited criticim from his anti-Bihari remark at a public meeting.
At the recent Kolkata Book Fair, Manoranjan Byapari said, "If Bengali blood runs through your veins...If the blood of Khudiram and Netaji (Subhash Chandra Bose) runs through your veins and if you love your mother tongue and motherland, then you have to shout out loud - 'Ek Bihari, sou bimari' (One Bihar person is equal to 100 diseases)'. We don't want diseases. Make Bengal disease-free. Jai Bangla, Jai Didi Mamata Banerjee."
In the video he was also heard saying, "If everything is fine in Bihar, then s***la go back to Bihar."
BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, a former Trinamool Congress leader slammed Byapari for his remark.
"First his leader Mamata Banerjee labels Biharis and UPites (those from Uttar Pradesh) as 'Bohiragotos' (outsiders) and now this clarion call to make Bengal free of Biharis," Mr Adhikari wrote.
He also tagged Shatrughan Sinha, the actor-politician from Bihar in the tweet who was recently named as a Trinamool candidate for bypolls in Bengal.
"My humble question to Bihari Babu Shri Shatrugan Sinha. Sir, what do you feel about this disgraceful rant of TMC MLA Manoranjan Byapari? Your new party colleague is very transparent about his feelings towards Biharis," Mr Adhikari tweeted.
Notably, Byapari is a first-time MLA who won from Hooghly in last year's Bengal election. According to reports, he learnt to read in prison when he was 24 and went on to write several books.
