The BJP nationwide protest scheduled for Monday, 26 October, targets a remark by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at an event in Patna that the ruling party calls indecent and offensive. The Congress says the comment has been misrepresented and was aimed at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), not at the prime minister’s late father. The row has become the latest flashpoint between the two parties.
What Mallikarjun Kharge Said in Patna
On Sunday, Kharge spoke in Patna while paying tribute to freedom fighter and former Bihar chief minister Sri Krishna Sinha on his 139th birth anniversary. According to The Tribune, he made the remark after a man at the event reportedly insisted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not going anywhere. Kharge replied with a Hindi phrase, “Modi ka baap bhi jayega”, which refers literally to Modi’s father.
The Congress president, who is also Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, went on to question Modi’s promise to bring back black money within the first 100 days of his government and accused the prime minister of making promises that remained unfulfilled. He also accused the BJP of “stealing votes” to capture power and alleged that the RSS had fuelled communalism since its founding. The BJP rejects those claims.
Why the BJP Nationwide Protest Was Called
The BJP announced demonstrations at state and district headquarters across the country on Monday, demanding an apology from the Congress leadership. India TV reported that the protests would be held outside Congress offices, while BusinessToday described them as demonstrations at state and district headquarters.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Kharge had violated the basic norms of public discourse by making an indecent comment about the prime minister’s father. He accused the Congress of repeatedly using insulting language against Modi and his family, recalling earlier remarks about the prime minister’s mother and references to him as a “chaiwala”. Shah also argued that repeated electoral defeats over 12 years had left the Congress without a political agenda.
BJP president Nitin Nabin called the remark a sign of “ideological bankruptcy” and said political differences should be expressed with dignity. He accused Rahul Gandhi and other opposition figures of dragging deceased family members into political speeches. A complaint over the remark was also filed against Kharge at Patna’s Kotwali police station, according to BusinessToday. No official action on the complaint had been reported.
Congress Says the Remark Was Misread
The Congress moved quickly to counter the BJP’s account. According to PTI, as reported by Odisha Bytes, party leaders said Kharge’s words were aimed at the RSS, which they described as Modi’s “ideological father”, and not at his late father. The party also alleged that a BJP worker had insulted Kharge’s own father during the speech by saying that Modi would remain even if Kharge’s father came back, and that this provoked the reply.
India TV reported that the Congress accused the BJP of repeatedly disrespecting its national president, which it said forced him to respond. A headline in the same coverage said the man who triggered the exchange claimed he had been misunderstood, though the details of his explanation were not available in the reports reviewed. The competing accounts have not been independently verified.
Why the Dispute Resonates
Exchanges over personal remarks have recurred in Indian politics. In 2022, for instance, the BJP condemned Kharge for likening Modi to “Ravan” at a Gujarat rally, and the Congress called the response an anti-Dalit tirade. The pattern is similar this time, with each side accusing the other of insulting a leader and of using the row to deflect from other issues.
For the BJP, the protest allows it to frame the Congress as disrespectful of the prime minister’s family. For the Congress, the defence rests on the argument that the phrase was a political metaphor and that its leader was himself provoked.
What to Watch
The size of Monday’s demonstrations, any action on the Patna complaint, and whether either side offers an apology or clarification will indicate how long the row lasts. The wording of Kharge’s remarks will remain central to the dispute. For now, the BJP nationwide protest is likely to dominate the political news cycle, with each party offering a very different reading of the same sentence.
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