Pawan Khera Defends Mallikarjun Kharge After Modi Remark Sparks Row

Congress MP Pawan Khera defends Mallikarjun Kharge's controversial remark about PM Modi, claiming it targeted the RSS, as the BJP demands an apology for the statement made during a public event in Patna.

Pawan Khera Defends Congress President's Remarks

Congress MP Pawan Khera on Sunday defended party president Mallikarjun Kharge after his “Modi ka baap bhi jayega” remark stirred a row, saying he was referring to the Prime Minister’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). A ruckus broke out during Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge’s address at the 139th birth anniversary celebration of Shri Krishna Singh in Patna, Bihar. During the address, a person present at the event said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not go anywhere. Responding to the remark, Kharge said, “Modi ka baap bhi jayega.” While the BJP has demanded an apology, Khera termed the heckling at the event a “despicable act” against Kharge.

Khera told ANI, "This is the second time that individuals from the Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have behaved disrespectfully toward Kharge ji. Previously, they engaged in a despicable act, a so-called purification ritual in Uttarakhand, solely because he is a Dalit. Today, in Bihar, while Kharge ji was delivering a speech, a BJP worker rudely said that Modi will not go anywhere; even if your own father were to come, he still wouldn't leave. Such absurd and offensive language was used against a veteran, senior leader.”

“In response, Kharge ji retorted that Modi will indeed go and so will his father, referring to his ideological mentor, the Sangh, and Mohan Bhagwat. This repeated disrespect toward our national president is happening at the direct behest of Modi and Shah. The nation will not forgive this. The nation is watching,” he added.

Congress and BJP Spar Over Political Decorum

Senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel also said that such a remark did not constitute an insult. Hitting back, Baghel recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s objectionable remarks in the past. The former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister said, "What is so abusive about that? Someone was shouting while the speech was being delivered. Who was it? That is just a way of speaking. Not just him, 'uska devta bhi jayega', 'vo kya uska baap bhi jayega'. Saying this does not constitute an insult.”

“The Prime Minister himself is consistently engaging in insults. You were the ones who started it. Sometimes you talk about a 50-crore girlfriend, sometimes you bring up Jersey cows, and at other times, you speak of snatching away a mangalsutra. These are all things that you say. No one in India's history has ever used the kind of language that Modi ji has used. So, when he says such things, why do people in the BJP remain silent?” he asked.

BJP Criticism of Kharge's Statement

Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president Nitin Nabin criticised Kharge’s remark, accusing the Congress of crossing the limits of political decorum. In a post on X, Shah wrote, “Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has today torn apart all norms of decorum by making an indecent remark about Modi ji's father in Patna. 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.' Under Rahul Gandhi's leadership, the Congress party keeps crossing the limits of indecency every day.”

“In the past 12 years, the repeated electoral defeats have bred such desperation and frustration in the Congress party that it no longer has any policy left, nor any issue; only the politics of slander remains. Having lost its public base among the people, Congress is now steadily losing its base even among its own workers,” he wrote further. Shah also alleged that Congress, having lost its public base, was steadily losing support among its own workers. "Whenever they have made hateful comments against Modi ji or his family, the public has given Congress a resounding response every time," he added.

Nitin Nabin described it as the Congress party's ideological bankruptcy. In a post on X, Nabin wrote, “The kind of indecent and unparliamentary language used today in Patna by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge towards the country's honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji reflects the Congress party's ideological bankruptcy.” (ANI)

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