'Uttar Pradesh Kise Kehte Hai?' Shashi Tharoor Takes Dig At NEET 'Paper Leak', Invites Backlash From BJP

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's criticism of NEET exam paper leaks in Uttar Pradesh has sparked controversy, with BJP leaders accusing him of stereotyping and insulting the state.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's dig at the BJP over the NEET-UG exam paper leak has attracted a backlash from BJP, with party leaders accusing him of demeaning and misrepresenting the northern state.

Tharoor shared a post on his social media handle X which shows a question and answer in Hindi, "What is called Uttar Pradesh?" The response to the question was: "A state where uttar (answers) are known before the exam."

Tharoor described the post as "shandaar" and added the hashtag "Pariksha pe charcha" -- a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative to interact with students.

Lashing out at the post, BJP leaders slammed the Congress leader stating that there was no humor in stereotyping and insulting the state and its people.

Responding to Tharoor's post, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on his social media handle X, “This gentleman frequently indulges in satirizing various cultures (first Northeast and now UP) with remarkably caustic words. He has succumbed to the beguiling whispers of lunacy, his mind adrift in the ethereal mists of derangement.”

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada called Tharoor’s remarks about Uttar Pradesh "deplorable," expressing “I don’t see the humour in running down my state and its people by stereotyping them with such condemnable remarks. Such an insult to UP is deplorable and must be condemned in the strongest words,” he wrote in his post X.

BJP leader Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore accused Shashi Tharoor of distancing himself from Uttar Pradesh and disrespecting it. 

“Shashi, you having to resort to frivolity!! And in doing so condemning people of an entire state? You don’t see UP as yours, since you are deriding it. How I see Kerala is it’s my state, it’s my people. Bright, young, dynamic Keralites have served with me in the Army and rubbed shoulders with me in ‘Team India’. When a person of your stature and intelligence mocks a State, why wouldn’t others do? And then what!!” Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore wrote on his X post.

BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan labelled Tharoor a "repeat offender," recalling his past insults towards traditional attire in the Northeast.  “Shashi Tharoor is a repeat offender who had earlier gravely insulted our North East brothers and sisters by ridiculing their traditional attire as outlandish. To belittle a serious issue, implying that the state of UP is a state of cheaters is indefensible and unpardonable. Splattering fancy English words does not necessarily make one civil and dignified,” Kesavan said.