Kharge’s ‘baap’ remark targeting PM Modi draws BJP backlash, Amit Shah hits out at Congress

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has criticised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his “baap” remark directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an event in Bihar's Patna on Sunday. Union home minister Amit Shah accused the Congress of violating political decorum by “targeting Modi ji's father”. Other BJP leaders also hit out at the Congress chief.

Kharge was attending the 139th birth anniversary celebration of Bihar’s first chief minister, Shri Krishna Singh, when a person in the audience heckled, “Modi kahin nahin jayega” (Modi will not go anywhere). Kharge then called out, “Modi ka baap bhi jayega, baap bhi jayega (Even his father will go).”

“This is not the first time that the Congress party has used abusive language against Modi ji or his family. At times, they have hurled insults at his revered mother, at times called him 'merchant of death,' and at times mocked his poverty by calling him 'chaiwala,'” he alleged.

“Under Rahul Gandhi's leadership, the Congress party keeps crossing the limits of indecency every day,” Shah said.

BJP slams Kharge's remarks as ‘disgusting, uncouth’

Ex-education minister Dharmendra Pradhan accused the Congress of resorting to personal attacks against Modi instead of challenging him on policies and ideas. On X, Pradhan said the comment about Modi’s late father reflected the Congress’s “growing frustration” and questioned whether the party had run out of issues to raise against the Prime Minister.

BJP spokesperson Tuhin A Sinha also criticised Kharge’s statement, describing it as “disgusting, petulant, uncouth”.

BJP president Nitin Nabin also criticised Kharge over his remark, calling it a reflection of the party’s “ideological bankruptcy”. On X, Nabin said political opposition should maintain dignity and accused the Congress of dragging deceased family members into political speeches.

“There is a certain dignity to political opposition as well, but dragging the departed family members into speeches from public platforms has now become the real 'culture' of Rahul Gandhi and the entire opposition. This is not Kharge ji's personal statement, but a revelation of the entire Congress party's lack of decorum in its thinking,” Nabin wrote on X.

Union minister Giriraj Singh also attacked the Congress chief. “I used to think only Rahul Gandhi (Leader of Opposition) is foolish. Now it seems there's a whole bunch of them,” he said.

Giriraj Singh further claimed that Modi, who turned 76 in September, would remain in power for at least another 30 years. “They have stooped so low in their sycophancy towards the owners and political flattery that they have now resorted to making cheap remarks about the father of the country's elected Prime Minister,” Singh said.

“PM Modi has a habit of telling lies. He had said that he would bring back black money in his first 100 days. I want to ask, where is that money?” Kharge said, as per ANI.

The Congress president also criticised the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), alleging that its ideology was responsible for communal divisions in the country.

“As long as the ideology of the RSS persists in this country, there will be no peace,” he said.

Kharge accused the organisation of engaging in communal activities since its inception and argued that its ideology was incompatible with social harmony.

“It saddens me that Nitish Kumar, who entered the political scene carrying the ideology of the Socialist Party, has ended up in the lap of the BJP and the RSS. This is what happens when a person becomes weak and abandons their ideology,” he said.

The Congress chief also raised the issue of a purification ritual reportedly conducted at a venue in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, after a Congress rally.

Referring to the incident on August 8, Kharge condemned the practice of untouchability and questioned how social unity could be achieved if such practices continued decades after Independence.

“80 years after Independence, how will there be unity if untouchability prevails?” he asked. The incident had triggered criticism from Congress leaders, who alleged that the ritual amounted to untouchability.