MLA's ‘ek Bihari, sau bimari’ video surfaces after TMC fields Shatrughan Sinha for Lok Sabha by-polls

In a video shared by BJP leaders, TMC MLA from Balagarh, Manoranjan Byapari, was heard calling people from Bihar a "bimaari", or disease.

A Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator has courted controversy after a purported clip of his anti-Bihar rant went viral on social media. In a video shared by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, TMC MLA from Balagarh, Manoranjan Byapari, was heard calling people from Bihar a "bimaari", or disease.

Shatrughan Sinha has been a member of both Houses of Parliament. He was also a minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government. (HT FILE PHOTO.)

“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, sau bimari',” Byapar was heard saying in the minute-long clip.

Byapari was also heard saying that people from Bihar always complain about the state of affairs in West Bengal despite “enjoying the amenities here.”

“If it is so, why don't you leave for good? You stay here, take the facilities here and deride this soil.”

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who first flagged the video, believed to have been filmed last year, said that the TMC should clarify its stance on the matter.

“The TMC has fielded Shatrughan Sinha for Asansol Lok Sabha by-polls and he hails from Bihar. One of its MLAs, Manoranjan Byapari, has now spoken in disparaging terms against the members of the community,” Adhikari told reporters. "What is the party's stand?”

Underlining that Bihar and Bengal were once a part of one state, the BJP leader alleged that TMC wants to strike at the root of federalism by “such racist comments”. He also said that Shatrughan Sinha, the actor-turned-politician, should present his take on the issue.

Byapar accused BJP of distorting his statement and said the remark he made at the Kolkata book fair had been "taken out of context for political gains".

"I am willing to campaign for our Asansol Lok Sabha seat by-poll candidate Shatrughan Sinha, if asked by the party. I don't believe in sectarian ideas," the TMC leader told reporters.

(With PTI inputs)