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Why has Assam minister's ‘gobi farming’ post on Bihar sparked backlash?
Opposition hit out at the government, alleging that the minister's post on ‘gobi farming’ allegedly referenced the 1989 Bhagalpur riots.
A picture of cauliflowers in the ground and a four-word caption referencing Bihar - a recent tweet by BJP leader and Assam cabinet minister Ashok Singhal has sparked a massive controversy online.
“Bihar approves Gobi farming ✅,” Ashok Singhal wrote in an X post with an image of a cauliflower farm, on Friday afternoon, just when the ruling NDA in Bihar was looking poised to return to power in the state, with a massive majority in the Assembly elections.
The post later drew big backlash from the Opposition, and even some other social media users.
Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi, Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale, and Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi were among a few names who slammed the post, and accused the BJP of marking a ‘new low in political discourse’.
Why did the post spark controversy?
Criticising the post, Opposition leaders alleged that it tried to reference the 1989 Bhagalpur communal riots, also called the "cauliflower burial case", that led to the killing of 116 people at Logain village in Bihar.
Over 110 Muslims were allegedly killed in Logain, a village in Bhagalpur district’s Goradih block, and cauliflower saplings were planted on the sites where the bodies were buried.
Gaurav Gogoi questioned the Assam minister's post, alleging that the use of “gobi farming” imagery by a sitting Cabinet Minister of Assam in the wake of the Bihar election results marks a shocking new low in political discourse. He called it vulgar and shameful.
“To invoke such a tragedy in this manner shows how far some are willing to descend in public life,” Gogoi said hitting out at chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of having a hatred for Indian minorities and promoting ‘this mindset’.
“Assam is the land of Mahapurush Sankardev , Lachit Borphukan and Azaan Pir. And next year the people of Assam will end the rule of hate and greed,” he asserted, alluding to the upcoming assembly elections, that are scheduled to be held in 2026.
TMC and Congress lash out at BJP
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Saket Gokhale, in a post on X, claimed that such posts have the approval of the prime minister.
“Gobi farming” refers to glorifying the mass killing of Muslims in Bhagalpur, Bihar, in 1989. A cauliflower farm was planted on the graves to hide evidence,” Gokhale alleged as he reposted Singhal's post on X.
This is Modi’s BJP Minister from Assam. Not some fringe element. Clearly, @PMOIndia approves this. The world should know," he further wrote.
Congress MP and senior jurist Abhishek Singhvi also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps against Singhal's post on X, calling him ‘shameful, divisive and utterly unbecoming of a public representative’.
“Communal dog-whistling cannot be normalised from BJP’s own ranks. I urge PM @narendramodi to act. silence will only signal endorsement, not restraint,” he wrote.
