Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has faced criticism for a social media post mocking examinations in Uttar Pradesh. The post, shared amid an ongoing paper leak controversy, joked that the state's name translates to "the state where answers are known before exams".

The post in question featured a viral image of an answer sheet with a question, "Uttar Pradesh kise kehte hain?" (What is Uttar Pradesh?). The answer reads, "Woh pradesh jahan pariksha se pehle uttar pata chal jaaye use Uttar Pradesh kehte hain." (The state where answers are known before the exams is called Uttar Pradesh).

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned the post as an insult to the people of Uttar Pradesh. Union Minister Jitin Prasada responded, “I don’t see the humour in running down my state and its people by stereotyping them with such condemnable remarks. Such an insult to UP is deplorable and must be condemned in strongest words.”

Former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who recently lost to Tharoor in the Lok Sabha elections from Thiruvananthapuram, accused the Congress party of "shameless crass politics" and a "superiority complex". 

“Shameless crass politics of shaming other fellow Indians - that's the Congress way, ably demonstrated by this self-titled Global citizen,” he said.

Chandrasekhar's response included two emojis, ?? and ??, expressing his outrage and disgust at Tharoor's post.

He referenced a recent controversy involving Sam Pitroda's comments about Indian nationals, saying, "This type of thinking runs deep in the Cong DNA."