PM's "140 Crore People" Reply To Lalu Yadav's "Modi Has No Family" Swipe

Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP today launched the "Modi Ka Parivar" campaign to counter Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) patriarch Lalu Yadav's personal attack, in which the veteran leader said the Prime Minister has no family.

"Leaders of the INDI alliance, deeply engrossed in corruption, nepotism and appeasement, are becoming nervous. When I question their 'parivarvad', they say Modi has no family," the Prime Minister said at a rally in Telangana's Adilabad.

"My life is an open book, 140 crore people of the country are my family. Today, crores of daughters, mothers and sisters of the country are Modi's family. Every poor person in the country is my family. Those who have no one, they also belong to Modi and Modi belongs to them. They say 'Nene Modi Kutumbam' (I'm Modi family)," he added.

Top BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda, added "Modi ka parivar" to their social media handles today.

Addressing a rally of the INDIA Opposition bloc in Patna, Mr Prasad had yesterday hit back at the Prime Minister's charge of dynasty politics against Opposition parties, including RJD. "What can we do if Narendra Modi does not have a family of his own?" he had said. "He keeps bragging about the Ram temple. He is not even a true Hindu. In Hindu tradition, a son must shave his head and beard after the death of his parents. Modi did not do so when his mother died," he had said.

In a message of solidarity, top BJP leaders today added "Modi ka parivar" to their social media handles. The leaders who added the phrase, meaning "Modi's family", to their handles on X include Mr Shah, Mr Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Nitin Gadkari and Anurag Thakur, and veteran BJP leader and former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Uttarakhand counterpart Pushkar Singh Dhami have also joined in.

The "Modi ka parivar" campaign is on the lines of the "Main bhi chowkidar" drive ahead of the 2019 general election. BJP leaders had then added "Main bhi chowkidar (I am a watchman too)" to their social media handles to counter Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's "Chowkidaar chor hai" jab at the Prime Minister.

Mr Yadav's remarks on the Prime Minister yesterday drew a sharp response from BJP leaders in Bihar. Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha yesterday described the remarks as "offensive" and "disrespectful". "The language used by Lalu Prasad against our PM shows his mindset. They (RJD) are against Sanatan Dharma and are trying to destroy the centuries-old tradition," he said. "They behave like political jokers. We must stop such forces. What our PM has done for Sanatan Dharma is well-known," he said.