Union Minister Giriraj Singh today took a dig at Amartya Sen saying Bihar was a "victim" of his intellect, days after the Nobel Laureate economist hit out at the BJP-led Centre over its "interference" in academia.
Singh's remarks were in apparent reference to Sen's recent comments where he also spoke about what he called his "ouster" from the Chancellorship of Nalanda University and expressed scepticism about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's idea of secularism.
"Yes yes! Bihar is the scariest victim of his intellect. #NalandaUniversity #2700crore," Singh tweeted, partaking in a conversation in the social media site.
Singh, BJP's Nawada MP, has stoked several rows in the past over his controversial remarks including one against Congress President Sonia Gandhi for which he had to apologise in Parliament.
Sen, who in the past has minced no words in his criticism of the BJP-led NDA government, was also attacked by social media trolls following his critical remarks against the government.
In his comments, Sen had said the Board (of Nalanda University) "unanimously" wanted him to continue as Chancellor of Nalanda but "the government did not".
"And it became clear to me that if I succeed in staying on which many of the board members wanted me to go on fighting, I'll be making a mistake because the important cause is Nalanda University and I could not be an effective leader of Nalanda with government hostility," he had said.
He is slated to step down as Chancellor on July 17, when he will be replaced by George Yeo, former foreign minister of Singapore.
