Yesterday in Patna, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was speaking at an event for the 139th birth anniversary of Bihar’s first chief minister, Shri Krishna Singh. Normal political speech stuff. He was going after the BJP, talking about voter list issues and saying people involved in wrongdoing would go to jail.
Then someone in the crowd shouted, “Modi nahi jayega” — basically, Modi isn’t going anywhere. Kharge didn’t pause. He shot back, “Modi ka baap bhi jayega.” Even Modi’s father will go. He said it more than once.
That one line was enough. Videos spread fast and the BJP came down hard.
Amit Shah called it indecent and said Kharge had crossed every limit of decency. He brought up old Congress digs — the “chaiwala” taunts, the “merchant of death” line, comments about Modi’s mother. Shah’s point was simple: the Congress has been doing this for years and it’s only gotten worse after so many election losses.
Other BJP leaders joined in. Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said the remark was extremely unfortunate and demanded an apology from both Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav said dragging the families of the dead into politics is wrong. A complaint was even filed at Patna’s Kotwali police station.
Congress has its own version. They say the person who interrupted first made a rude remark involving Kharge’s father. According to them, Kharge’s reply wasn’t about Modi’s real father at all. They claim he meant Modi’s “ideological father” — the RSS. Pawan Khera and others stuck to that line. Some reports even said the heckler was actually a Congress worker from Chhapra who got misunderstood.
Whatever the exact sequence, the damage was done. In Indian politics, mentioning someone’s late parents is always radioactive. Modi’s father passed away long ago. He was a tea stall owner, and the Prime Minister has talked about that background many times. Bringing him into a public rally was always going to explode.
This is the kind of fight that eats up the news cycle. Real issues take a back seat while both sides trade accusations of bad manners and desperation. The BJP says Congress has nothing left except personal attacks. Congress says the BJP starts these things and then plays the victim.
At the end of the day, it’s another reminder of how low the conversation can go. A few heated words in a hall in Patna and suddenly the whole country is arguing about it. Whether Kharge meant the RSS or not, the line landed badly for a lot of people. And in politics, how something lands often matters more than what was intended.
Sources:
The Hindu, Hindustan Times, India Today, The Week, Economic Times, NDTV, New Indian Express, and statements from Amit Shah, Congress leaders, and local reports from October 25-26, 2026.
@Rohit Manral
