The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced protests across the country after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge made a controversial remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a public meeting in Patna on Sunday. Several BJP leaders condemned the comment, accusing Kharge of crossing the limits of political discourse.
The exchange took place at Bapu Sabhagar during an event marking the 139th birth anniversary of Shri Krishna Singh, Bihar’s first Chief Minister, popularly known as Shri Babu.
Kharge was speaking about alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls when a man in the audience, Santosh Kumar, interrupted him. Kharge had said the Congress would send those responsible for the alleged irregularities to jail.
Kumar shouted, “Modi nahin jayenga” (Modi will not go). Kharge replied, “Modi ka baap bhi jayega, baap bhi jayega. Modi ka baap bhi jayega” (Even Modi’s father will have to go).
The remark drew sharp criticism from the BJP, while Kumar later said the exchange had been misunderstood. Identifying himself as a dedicated Congress worker, he alleged that party workers mistook him for a BJP supporter and assaulted him while escorting him away from the gathering.
Kumar said he had wanted to convey that Modi would not leave power without widespread public protests. He alleged that his statement had been cut short, creating the misunderstanding. Separately, a BJP worker filed a police complaint against Kharge in Bihar.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress of repeatedly targeting Modi and his family with insulting remarks. In a post on X, Shah referred to past comments about the Prime Minister’s mother and his background, and blamed Rahul Gandhi’s leadership for what he described as a decline in political decorum.
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also criticised Kharge, saying he was “deeply distressed” by the comment. He said public figures should maintain dignity in their language and respect the dead, even when speaking about political opponents.
BJP president Nitin Nabin described the remark as a reflection of the Congress party’s “ideological bankruptcy”. Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary called Kharge’s language derogatory.
Chirag Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), said maintaining decorum and respecting the dignity of public office were essential. Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, chief of the Hindustani Awam Morcha, said abusive language did not weaken political leaders but reflected on those who used it.
The BJP announced its nationwide protest programme on Monday in response to Kharge’s remarks.
The exchange with Kumar came during a speech in which Kharge accused the BJP, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Election Commission of India (ECI) of undermining electoral fairness.
Kharge alleged that the SIR exercise was being used to remove Opposition supporters from voter lists and influence election outcomes. He warned that the country risked moving towards “slavery” if citizens’ voting rights were not protected, describing the struggle to safeguard those rights as “the second freedom struggle”.
He also alleged “vote theft” in Assembly elections in Bihar, Maharashtra, Haryana and West Bengal. Referring to the governments formed in these states, he used the phrase “chori ki sarkar” (governments formed through theft) and demanded their dismissal.
Kharge called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign and sought the repeal of a 2023 law that, he alleged, gave election commissioners sweeping legal immunity.
He further claimed that two Election Commission members had written to Kumar 14 times over 10 months about alleged electoral roll irregularities. He referred to an alleged incident involving a woman officer who had directed Booth Level Officers to delete names through election software.
Kharge also alleged that Kumar, during his tenure in Kerala, had urged a chief secretary to resign and contest an election on a BJP ticket.
The Congress president said the INDIA bloc had approached President Droupadi Murmu seeking Kumar’s resignation, a halt to the SIR exercise, the restoration of voters’ names allegedly deleted unlawfully and the return of paper ballots for all elections. He urged party supporters to attend the Congress rally scheduled for November 1 at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan.
Kharge also drew on Shri Krishna Singh’s record on caste discrimination to criticise the RSS. He cited Singh’s opposition to untouchability and his role in enabling Dalits to enter the Baidyanath Dham temple in Deoghar in 1953, despite opposition. Deoghar was part of undivided Bihar at the time and is now in Jharkhand.
He then referred to a separate controversy in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, over an alleged purification ritual at Ramlila Maidan following a public meeting he addressed on August 8.
The Congress accused those behind the ritual of caste discrimination against Kharge, a Dalit leader. The organisation responsible said the ceremony was intended to restore the venue’s religious and cultural sanctity. The BJP distanced itself from the organisation and denied any link to the event.
Kharge said BJP leader J P Nadda had apologised in Parliament and promised an inquiry. He questioned whether the investigation had been carried out and criticised Modi for not commenting publicly on the matter. He also referred to a case filed against Rahul Gandhi over remarks made during a visit to Uttarakhand.
The programme also saw protests against the Bihar Congress leadership. A group of party workers gathered outside Bapu Sabhagar, demanding the removal of state Congress president Rajesh Ram and Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru.
The protesters carried banners describing the two leaders as “BJP agents” and calling for them to be removed from their posts.
The internal dissent added another point of contention to an event that became the centre of a wider political dispute following Kharge’s exchange with an audience member.
This article was prepared with AI assistance and is based on information available in the public domain.
