Bihar Minister Compares Ramcharitmanas To Cyanide, Sparks Controversy

The controversial remarks by Bihar Education Minister Chandra Shekhar Yadav has offered ammunition to the BJP ahead of the Assembly polls in five states and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

While the talks are also happening about "One Nationa One Election", the member of the INDIA bloc has created a fresh stir when already debate was going on over 'Sanatana Dharma'

Mr Yadav compared the Hindu scriptures Ramcharitmanas with potassium cyanide. The remarks drew sharp reactions from NDA partners in Bihar- BJP and LJP. 

Reacting to his comments Union Minister RK Singh said that no one can humiliate any religion.

"This will not be accepted, no one can humiliate any religion. How can you comment on any religion?" RK Singh said.

Calling it a mental perversion Bihar LoP Vijay Sinha also reacted to the Bihar Minister's statement and said "Where is it written in the Constitution that secularism means abusing your own religion...This is a mental perversion."

Furthermore, Union Minister Nityanand Rai said that this represents their "sick mentality."

"I would suggest keeping one Guru, reading each line of Ramayana and understanding the essence of each word and then commenting on Ramayana-Mahabharat," Mr  Rai said. 

He further said that they should not say such things. This represents their sick mentality, he said.

"This represents an appeasement mentality...Mahabharat and Ramayana are not cyanide...Appeasement, corruption and governments giving refuge to criminals are cyanide," he added.

Moreover, Uttar Pradesh Minister Jitin Prasada said the INDIA alliance and its leaders are talking about ending Sanatan Dharma.

"The INDIA alliance and its leaders talk on ending Sanatana Dharma...In the coming time, the public will give an answer to this...Those who talk about ending Sanatana Dharma will themselves end," Mr Prasada said.

Earlier, addressing media from the BJP headquarters in the national capital, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra slammed Bihar Minister Chandra Shekhar for drawing a parallel between Ramcharitmanas and "potassium cyanide".

"All the people of the INDI Alliance are full of venom for Hinduism, and it is reflected in all of their statements. He says that Ramcharitmanas is potassium cyanide. Crores of people have their devotion placed in it. Those who have the audacity to call 'Ram' a venom are questioning the basic beliefs of this country and hurting it. The public will boycott them," Mr Patra asserted.

Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan asked about the degrading quality of primary education in the state and said that by giving these controversial statements, anyone can identify that this will give rise to division in society.

"He has been the education minister of that state for years but still the courses are not over. Where the quality of primary education is degrading. Where there is no infrastructure and benches for students...By giving these controversial statements, anyone can identify that this will give rise to division in society," Mr Paswan said.

He further said, "For once, did the education Minister try to know, why students of Bihar are attempting suicide in Kota..."

The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government was quick to disassociate themselves from the remarks of the RJD leader.  

JD(U) leader Shravan Kumar said that our words and our feelings should not hurt anyone's religion.

"Our words, our feelings should not hurt anyone's dharma (religion)," Shravan Kumar said.

"Dharma is a temple, masjid, church, gurudwara which gives a message of unity, love and brotherhood. We all need to keep this message alive and should not comment on this," he added.

Meanwhile, Tejashwi Yadav reacted over the matter and said that we are believers of the Constitution and we feel that he should not speak on such things and ignore them. 

"This is a personal, question related to religious beliefs. We are believers of the Constitution and we feel that he should not speak on such things and ignore them."

The salvo was fired as the Bihar Ministercompared Ramcharitmanas to "potassium cyanide".

Speaking at an event on Hindi Diwas (September 14), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader said, "If you serve 56 kinds of dishes and mix potassium cyanide into them, would you eat them?"The same analogy applies to the scriptures of Hinduism."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)