Shashi Tharoor’s post on exams in UP triggers backlash from BJP
The Congress MP had joked that Uttar Pradesh is the state where answers are known before the exams
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has been at the receiving end of barbs, especially from BJP leaders for his recent post on social media joking about the way exams are conducted in Uttar Pradesh.
In the backdrop of the controversies surrounding exams like NEET-UG and UGC-NET and the allegations about question paper leaks before the tests, Tharoor posted the image of an answer sheet with the question, “Uttar Pradesh kise kehte hain?” (What is Uttar Pradesh?)
He followed it up with the answer, “The state where answers are known before the exams is called Uttar Pradesh.”
The BJP saw it as an affront to the people of Uttar Pradesh.
Union Minister Jitin Prasada responded, “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 strongest words.”
'Crass politics'
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the former BJP MP who lost the recent Lok Sabha elections in Thiruvananthapuram to Tharoor, hit out at the Congress on X.
“Shameless crass politics of shaming other fellow Indians – that’s the Congress way, ably demonstrated by this self-titled Global citizen. It was just a few months ago, another of Cong 'global citizens' Pitroda described Indians as Africans, Chinese, Middle Eastern, etc. Runs deep in the Cong DNA, this type of superiority complex.”
Chandrasekar’s post, however, received many critical comments from Tharoor’s supporters, accusing him of being frustrated by his defeat in Thiruvananthapuram, asking him why he was tweeting about politics after having “retired from politics”, and why he was silent on paper leaks.