Mallikarjun Kharge's retort at a Patna event drew a sharp BJP backlash. Party leaders said it insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's family and demanded an apology.Kharge said the government must answer questions on the action taken against students and apologise for the use of force.

The BJP on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his “Modi ka baap bhi jayega” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing the opposition party of abandoning political decorum and resorting to personal attacks out of frustration over repeated electoral defeats.The controversy erupted during an event in Patna to mark the 139th birth anniversary of Bihar’s first chief minister, Shrikrishna Singh, where Kharge was speaking about alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.Kharge said the Congress would send those involved in the alleged irregularities to jail. When a member of the audience interrupted him, saying, “As long as there is no rebellion, Modi won't go anywhere,” the Congress chief retorted, “Modi ka baap bhi jayega” (Let alone Modi, even his father would go).The remarks triggered a strong backlash from senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers Amit Shah and JP Nadda, who accused Kharge of insulting the Prime Minister and his family.

The BJP also demanded an apology from the Congress leadership. BJP president Nitin Nabin said Kharge’s language reflected the Congress’s “ideological bankruptcy” and accused the party of abandoning the basic standards of political discourse.“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,” Nabin said in a post on X.

He added that political opposition should be conducted with dignity and criticised the practice of dragging deceased family members into speeches at public gatherings.“The language that was once associated with thugs and hooligans is now being used by the Congress President himself,” the BJP said in a post on X, adding that the party's functioning increasingly resembled that of a “mafia gang”.- Ends