Lucknow, Oct 26 The BJP on Monday held a protest in Lucknow against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s “Modi ka baap bhi jayega” remarks, with party leaders demanding an apology from the Congress and its senior leadership.
The protest was led by BJP Lucknow Mahanagar president Anand Dwivedi and saw the participation of party workers and leaders, including Uttar Pradesh BJP vice president Neeraj Singh. The demonstrators marched from the statue of former UP governor Lalji Tandon to the Hazratganj crossing, holding placards and banners demanding an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and raising slogans against the opposition party.
Kharge allegedly made the controversial remark on Sunday during an event in Patna organised to mark the birth anniversary of Bihar’s first chief minister Shri Krishna Sinha. According to the account of the incident, when a person in the audience said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not go anywhere, Kharge allegedly responded, “Modi ka baap bhi jayega (Even Modi’s father will go)”.
UP BJP president and Union minister Pankaj Chaudhary slammed Kharge in a post on X on Sunday, describing the alleged remark about the prime minister’s late father as evidence of what he called the Congress’ “moral and mental bankruptcy”.
Referring to earlier remarks allegedly made by Gandhi about Modi’s mother, Chaudhary accused the party of repeatedly targeting the prime minister’s family and said it reflected its political frustration.
“The 140 crore people of the country will never tolerate such hateful language against their prime minister and his family,” Chaudhary said in his post, adding that the country would respond to the alleged insult through democratic means.
UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also criticised Kharge in a post on X, accusing the Congress of repeatedly crossing the limits of political discourse out of hatred and political animosity towards Modi.
Maurya questioned how long Kharge, whom he referred to as the Congress’ “khadau president” (symbolic chief), would continue to use what he described as unparliamentary language against the prime minister and make remarks about sending him to jail at the behest of the Gandhi family.
“Democracy gives the right to oppose, but certainly not to indulge in indecency,” Maurya said in his post, adding that respecting the people’s mandate was a democratic responsibility that the Congress and the Gandhi family could not evade.
Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak also condemned the alleged remarks, attributing them to Kharge’s frustration and accusing the Congress of being unable to tolerate the prime minister.
Pathak said the Congress had earlier made remarks against Modi’s mother and was now targeting his father, both of whom are no longer alive.
“This is indecent and condemnable. The people of Uttar Pradesh and the country will never accept this.
“You have forgotten India’s culture. Kharge ji must apologise for his remarks,” Pathak said.
In Ballia, UP Minister of State for Minority Welfare Danish Azad Ansari on Monday said Kharge’s remarks reflected his “mental frustration” and demanded that the Congress president apologise to the entire country.
“You cannot win people’s trust by lying. They are so desperate to gain power that they have resorted to abuses,” Ansari said.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also slammed Kharge in a post on X on Sunday, describing the alleged remark about the prime minister’s late father as unacceptable and strongly condemnable.
Adityanath said the comment had hurt the sentiments of 145 crore Indians and reflected what he described as the Congress’s frustration, disappointment and ideological bankruptcy. He demanded that the party take strict action against its national president and apologise to the country.
Former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh slammed the Congress while speaking to reporters in Balrampur on Monday, where he had attended an event honouring students for their achievements.
He alleged that the Congress lacked issues to raise and that its leaders repeatedly made irresponsible statements, contributing to the party’s declining political fortunes despite Gandhi’s efforts.
Singh said there should be limits to the language used in politics and alleged that the Congress had forgotten those limits.
(PTI News)
