Patna: The political atmosphere ahead of the Bihar assembly elections has intensified, with the BJP candidate for the Alinagar seat, Maithili Thakur, issuing a fiery response to a row over a viral video involving the traditional Maithili paag.
Thakur, who is contesting the Darbhanga constituency on a BJP ticket, claimed the controversy was a deliberate act of political sabotage. “This propaganda was spread to trap us, but they failed in their plot,” she told a media channel, addressing the backlash after a video emerged of her eating makhana (spicy fox nuts) that had been placed inside a paag.
The ‘paag’, a distinctive headwear, holds significant cultural and historical dignity for the Maithili community, leading to a public outcry that the candidate’s action was disrespectful.
Candidate claims ‘PR stunt’ by rivals
In her interview, the BJP candidate strongly defended herself against accusations that she had contaminated or insulted the cultural symbol.
“I did not eat the makhana from inside the paag. Our culture is like our mother,” Thakur stated, before indirectly pointing the finger at her political opponents. “Two or three people ran a PR stunt, but this attempt failed,” she alleged. “There is no evidence that I contaminated the paag while eating the makhana.”
The video, which circulated widely, showed Thakur taking the nuts, a gift from women in Ghanshyampur village, and eating them. Protesters subsequently accused her of a major cultural gaffe.
Thakur offered a personal explanation for her actions, linking it to local customs. She stated that receiving food this way is a tradition for how daughters are sent off in her family, a value she is learning through her time in the region. She explained her hurried consumption was due to being “very hungry,” and added that she had also been given the traditional farewell meal of curd and sugar, which had left her with residual discomfort preventing her from easily eating other foods like tarua (a local fritter) or drinking water.
