Published and updated on October 26, 2026, this report covers a day when Indian politics was convulsed by an unscripted sentence from Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the Indian National Congress. At a Bihar party gathering, Kharge invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s deceased father, prompting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to denounce him and plan nationwide demonstrations and effigy burnings. Home Minister Amit Shah, whom DW describes as Modi’s closest political lieutenant, led the criticism. Congress answered that its rivals also resort to personal attacks. That Monday also brought two deaths in a Delhi house collapse and a state visit by Prince Alois of Liechtenstein, then in Mumbai.
- Key Point: Kharge spoke during a discussion of the national voter-roll revision. Congress has argued for a year that the process is meant to “steal votes”; reports of mass deletions and election-body irregularities have already drawn protests from opposition groups, students and pressure organizations. Kharge said officials linked to the irregularities, Modi included, would be jailed; after an audience member shouted that Modi would not move without a rebellion, Kharge replied with the phrase “Modi ka baap bhi jayega,” meaning even Modi’s father would go to jail.
- Key Point: Shah wrote on X that Congress repeatedly insulted Modi and his relatives, citing attacks on Modi’s mother, the “merchant of death” label and the “chaiwala” jibe. He said Rahul Gandhi’s party was crossing every limit of indecency and turning to personal remarks out of “desperation and frustration” as its base shrank.
- Key Point: BJP spokespeople and regional chiefs announced countrywide protest rallies, with some units preparing to burn effigies. Party social media accounts said Kharge had lost all decorum and asked whether such language befitted a party claiming to defend democratic values.
- Key Point: Congress defended Kharge, saying BJP politicians often make personal comments about its members at rallies. The row unfolds alongside the opposition’s year-long campaign against voter-roll changes and reported mass deletions and irregularities by the election body.
The Bihar exchange and the counterattack
At the Bihar event, Kharge addressed the voter-roll revision, which his party has fought for a year, accusing Modi of using it to “steal votes.” Reports of large-scale voter-list deletions and election-body irregularities had already sparked protests by opposition parties, student organizations and pressure groups. Kharge said every official tied to the roll irregularities, Modi included, would be jailed. According to Press Trust of India, an audience member then shouted:
“As long as there is no rebellion, Modi won’t go anywhere.”
Kharge’s reply became the flashpoint:
“Modi ka baap bhi jayega” — even Modi’s father will go (to jail).
DW’s report notes that the expression is a common one in Indian speech, but BJP leaders argued that using the prime minister’s deceased father in a political exchange was deeply insulting. A BJP spokesperson posted on social media:
“Mallikarjun Kharge appears to have lost all sense of decorum. ‘Modi ka baap bhi jayega’ — is this the language expected from the national president of a party that claims to uphold democratic values?”
“Oppose politically, but don’t turn the respect for late parents into a weapon of your cheap politics. The country is watching everything. 140 crore Indians will never forgive those who insult their elders!”
The report notes that one crore equals 10 million. Shah’s post on X broadened the attack:
“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.”
Shah said Congress had resorted to personal remarks out of “desperation and frustration” as it lost political ground. Congress leaders responded that BJP politicians have frequently made personal comments about Congress members at rallies.
Protests, a collapse and a princely visit
BJP officials and state-level leaders said protest rallies would be held across the country on Monday, with some units preparing to burn effigies. The party’s social media handles attacked Kharge directly, saying he had shown no grasp of propriety. In Delhi, meanwhile, rescuers brought out at least two bodies on Monday morning after an overnight rescue operation at a collapsed house in the northeastern part of the capital. The house came down at roughly 7 p.m. local time, or 1330 GMT, on Sunday, when a large slab from a house under construction fell onto contractors, prompting national and regional rescue teams to reach the site. Authorities named the dead as Chanderpal, 60, and his son Vijay Kumar, 36; both were taken to a hospital but declared dead on arrival.
The capital has recorded repeated building collapses, with unauthorised construction, poor upkeep and unenforced safety rules putting lives at risk. In September, a five-storey block for paying-guest students came down, killing at least seven people. Separately, Liechtenstein’s Prince Alois was making a state visit to India and was in Mumbai. DW’s Mahima Kapoor, based in Studio Delhi, observed that cooler weather was unlikely to calm the day, with sharp political attacks and effigy burnings expected to keep the atmosphere heated.
What the row reveals
Monday’s political clash is inseparable from the voter-roll dispute that produced it. The BJP is converting a few words at a rally into a nationwide protest, while Congress is defending its president as its campaign against the revision continues. That puts personal language and institutional claims in the same arena, and the effect is to overshadow the other items on the day’s agenda, including the Delhi deaths and the Liechtenstein visit. Neither side has offered a retreat, and the underlying argument over voter lists remains unresolved, with both camps more entrenched than before.