Kharge's 'Modi ka baap bhi jayega' remark: BJP protests across India, Congress leaders defend it

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held protests in cities across India on Monday, October 26, demanding an apology from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for telling a Patna audience a day earlier, "Modi ka baap bhi jayega", a remark the BJP says insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's late father. Congress and allied leaders have defended the remark as a figure of speech aimed at the Prime Minister's politics. None of the reports read for this piece quotes Kharge himself on the row; his own posts on October 26, as reported by the Press Trust of India (PTI), concerned the Chief Election Commissioner and a November 1 rally.

This piece is as of 13:37 IST on Tuesday, October 27. Statements by party leaders are attributed to them; the piece does not judge the remark.

What was said, and where

Kharge spoke on Sunday, October 25, at an event in Patna marking the 139th birth anniversary of Shrikrishna Singh, Bihar's first chief minister, ABP Live reports. According to ABP Live, he was speaking about alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and said those responsible would be sent to jail. WION and The Hindu report that a member of the audience shouted that Modi would not go anywhere, and Kharge replied with the line now in dispute.

Outlets render the Hindi differently in English. The Hindu glosses it as "Modi's father will also be defeated"; The New Indian Express and PTI render it "even Modi's father would go". The reports read agree on the Hindi words. No report read for this piece carries a full transcript or video of the passage.

The BJP's response

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah wrote on X that Kharge "has today torn apart all norms of decorum by making an indecent remark about Modi ji's father", and said the Congress had earlier used abusive language against Modi and his family, WION reports.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was "shocked and deeply hurt", noting that the remarks were made "by the national president of a party that claims to be the oldest political party in the country", and accused the Congress of defending Kharge's words instead of expressing regret, ABP Live reports.
• The party's X account posted on Monday, "Sorry to break it to you, all anti-Indian forces, BUT... Modi Kahi Nahi Jaayega (Modi won't go anywhere)", ABP Live and WION report.
• Protests: PTI, in a report carried by Nagaland Post, says BJP workers protested near Kharge's residence on Rajaji Marg in Delhi and were stopped by police; in Patna a march led by state president Sanjay Saraogi ended with an effigy being burnt; and there were protests in Jammu, Kolkata and Ranchi. In Bengaluru, police detained several BJP leaders, among them Karnataka Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, after protesters climbed barricades and tried to march towards the Vidhana Soudha. Hindustan Times reports protests across Uttar Pradesh, and DNA reports that police used water cannons in Bhopal where BJP and Congress workers came face to face.
• Ranchi: The Times of India reports a stand-off outside the Congress office that snarled traffic for about two hours, with police barricades between the groups; a sub-inspector-rank officer told the paper that no untoward incident was reported.
• Nitin Navin, the BJP's national president, called the language unparliamentary and said it showed the Congress's "ideological bankruptcy", adding that a tendency to drag departed people into political speeches was growing in the Congress, Loksatta reports (translated from Marathi).
• Acharya Pramod Krishnam, head of Kalki Dham, compared Kharge's language to that of Ravana and said "the burning of Lanka is now inevitable", Loksatta reports.
• Demand: protesters and party leaders, among them Jharkhand BJP president Aditya Sahu, asked for an apology from Kharge and from Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accused the Congress of having a political culture of insulting people, The Sentinel reports.
• Haryana: state BJP president Archana Gupta called the remark "highly condemnable", and, asked about derogatory remarks allegedly made by BJP leaders, said she did not approve of such statements "irrespective of who made them", Hindustan Times reports.
• Complaints: an India Today video description says BJP workers "lodged police complaints" and that a complaint was filed against Kharge. No report read for this piece says an FIR has been registered, and none names a police station or the provisions invoked.

The Congress and allies

• Ashok Gehlot, former Rajasthan chief minister, wrote on X that Kharge "understands the dignity of the post of Prime Minister" and that "his intention was not to personally insult anyone". Relationship-based idioms, he said, are common in Indian speech and can be figurative, Yes Punjab reports. He also cited remarks by BJP leaders in past campaigns.
• BK Hariprasad, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, said it was "ideological criticism and not a personal attack", and that Kharge "insulted no one", The New Indian Express reports in its Karnataka report.
• Alka Lamba, All India Mahila Congress president, told reporters in Shimla that the Congress has never made the background of Modi's parents an issue, that the Prime Minister himself sought votes in his mother's name, and that he should stop playing the "victim card", The New Indian Express reports citing PTI.
• Mahua Moitra, Trinamool Congress MP, posted on X, "Why only the father? Even the father's father will go. Well said, Kharge ji", and shared an older video of Shah speaking about Rahul Gandhi's grandmother, accusing the BJP of double standards, The New Indian Express reports. Her post is her own and is not a Congress statement.
• Others: the India Today video description says Pawan Khera, Imran Masood and Bhupesh Baghel defended Kharge and cited past remarks by BJP leaders about the Gandhi family, and that Maharashtra Congress shared a post endorsing the statement. In Ranchi, Congress media in-charge Rakesh Sinha said "criticism of political leaders is part of democratic accountability", The Times of India reports.
• Mayawati, Bahujan Samaj Party chief, posted on X on Tuesday, October 27, urging leaders "occupying top positions" to "at least refrain from encouraging objectionable and toxic politics in any form" and saying personal attacks had become unrestrained, Mangalorean.com reports citing IANS. The article does not say she named Kharge, the BJP or the Congress; it says her post came amid the row.

Context

The remark came ahead of the INDIA bloc's planned November 1 "Dilli Chalo" rally at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi against what it calls "vote theft", and during the Election Commission's SIR of electoral rolls. PTI reports that on October 26 Kharge accused the government of protecting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and demanded his resignation, a halt to the SIR and paper ballots, in a separate report. Haryana Minister Anil Vij said "we are concerned" that gathering millions in Delhi on a certain date was an attempt "to incite violence in India like what happened in France, Bangladesh, and Nepal"; that is his characterisation, and the report offers no evidence for it.

Where reports differ

• English rendering: "will also be defeated" (The Hindu) against "would go" (PTI, The New Indian Express); the Hindi in every report is the same.
• What came before: The Hindu and WION say an audience member's cry prompted the line, as does ABP Live, which adds that Kharge had just said those responsible for SIR irregularities would go to jail.
• Complaints: the India Today description mentions complaints; the other reports do not.

What is not yet known

• Whether Kharge or the Congress leadership will comment directly on the remark or on the BJP's demand for an apology.
• Whether any police complaint becomes an FIR.
• Whether the BJP's protests continue through the Congress's November 1 rally in Delhi.