On Sunday (3rd March), Lalu Prasad Yadav stirred the hornet’s nest by making vicious personal attacks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While addressing a rally in Patna, the RJD supremo claimed, “Modi talks about dynastic politics, but what is dynastic politics? You (Modi) should explain why you don’t have children. What can we do if Narendra Modi does not have his own family?”
Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was convicted in the fodder scam case and is now out on bail, further claimed that PM Modi is not a Hindu.
It's utterly disgraceful that leaders of the INDI Alliance have stooped so low as to launch personal attacks against PM Shri @narendramodi ji.
— Satya Kumar Y (సత్యకుమార్ యాదవ్) (@satyakumar_y) March 3, 2024
Despite PM #Modi ji's effective governance, the opposition has resorted to baseless personal attacks, revealing their lack of… pic.twitter.com/raD1CAYBWd
He was heard saying, “(Modi) 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.”
While Lalu Prasad Yadav assumed that he would garner support for RJD by targeting PM Narendra Modi’s personal life, the political strategy has now backfired on the I.N.D.I. Alliance partner.
Public shows support to PM Modi
On Sunday (3rd March), popular Surat-based businessman ‘Mr Sinha’ lashed out at Lalu Prasad Yadav and told the RJD leader that the countrymen are the family members of PM Modi.
In a tweet, he stated, “Hey @laluprasadrjd, PM Modi is not alone…I’m his family…We all are his family…I’ve changed my profile name…Fellow BJP supporters too can do the same…”.
‘Mr Sinha’ suffixed his name on X (formerly Twitter) with the words ‘Modi’s family.’ He appealed to BJP supporters to follow suit.
Hey @laluprasadrjd, PM Modi is not alone….. I'm his family….. We all are his family….
— Mr Sinha (Modi's family) (@MrSinha_) March 3, 2024
I've changed my profile name… Fellow BJP supporters too can do the same….. pic.twitter.com/dfN6JYapVE
Soon after, other social media users also rallied behind PM Modi and described the Prime Minister as part of their family.
I m also Modi's family
— Binod Gupta (@BinodJournalist) March 3, 2024
Yes, I am also a member of his family✊
— Aditya Kumar Trivedi (@adityasvlogs) March 3, 2024
Others expressed the desire to add ‘Modi’s family’ to their names but couldn’t due to the limitations of the X (formerly Twitter) platform and job-related concerns.
I want to but can’t due to job
— Kris Diva (@krisdiva000) March 3, 2024
Mera bhi man hai modi's family add karne ka
— SonuB (@sonubsharma) March 3, 2024
Per X ke rules nahi karne de rahe
Ye bolkar account under review hai
PM Modi hits back
On Monday (4th March), PM Modi responded to the personal attacks against him and stated that 140 crore Indians are his family. “Jiska koi nahi uska Modi hai (The person who has no one has Modi on his side),” he stated.
“140 crore countrymen 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,” he emphasised.
140 करोड़ देशवासी ही मेरा परिवार है।
— BJP (@BJP4India) March 4, 2024
आज देश की करोड़ों बेटियां-माताएं-बहनें यही मोदी का परिवार है।
देश का हर गरीब मेरा परिवार है।
जिसका कोई नहीं है, वो भी मोदी के हैं और मोदी उनका है।
मेरा भारत-मेरा परिवार, इन्हीं भावनाओं का विस्तार लेकर मैं सपनों को संकल्प के साथ सिद्ध करने… pic.twitter.com/Gkc5im71TL
PM Modi further added, “Those who have no one, they also belong to Modi and Modi belongs to them. My India-My family, with the expansion of these feelings, I am living for you, fighting for you and will continue to fight for you, to fulfill my dreams with determination.”
‘Modi Ka Parivar’ campaign
With the 2024 Lok Sabha elections just around the corner, convicted politician Lalu Prasad Yadav gave a fresh campaign idea to the ruling BJP government at the Centre.
Prodded by overwhelming public support, Cabinet Ministers began suffixing their names on X(formerly Twitter) with ‘Modi ka Parivar.’ Top BJP leaders such as Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Nitin Gadkari and Anurag Thakur wasted no time in throwing their weight behind the Prime Minister.
And thus came into existence the second version of ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign, which proved to be a game-changer during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
2019 – Main Bhi Chowkidar
— Varun Kumar Rana (@VarunKrRana) March 4, 2024
2024 – Modi Ka Parivar
We know what happened in 2019 and we know what will happen in 2024 ✌️ pic.twitter.com/2tHHRMs1TV
Interestingly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to his countrymen as ‘parivarjano (family members)’ during his speech from the ramparts of Red Fort on the occasion of 76th Republic Day.
The Opposition seems to have inadvertently played into the hands of the BJP and helped strengthen the party’s narrative ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
‘Main bhi Chowkidar’ campaign of BJP
In the run-up to the 2019 elections, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi repeatedly lied about the Rafale deal at all his rallies and mocked PM Modi by saying ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai‘.
Soon after, BJP supporters online began prefixing their names with ‘Chowkidar’. The campaign was started by Surat-based businessman ‘Mr Sinha.’ When it became trending on social media, the BJP leaders also began following suit.
First came a personal appeal from the Prime Minister himself to back the #MainBhiChowkidar tagline on twitter which he followed up by changing his name to “Chowkidar Narendra Modi” on his Twitter profile. It followed a digital stampede.
Your Chowkidar is standing firm & serving the nation.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 16, 2019
But, I am not alone.
Everyone who is fighting corruption, dirt, social evils is a Chowkidar.
Everyone working hard for the progress of India is a Chowkidar.
Today, every Indian is saying-#MainBhiChowkidar
Prime Minister Modi tweeted a video to remind everyone that their ‘Chowkidar’ (watchman) was standing firm and serving the nation. As millions turned ‘chowkidar’ overnight, Congress’ jobe of ‘chowkidar chor hai’ failed to capitalise.
It must be mentioned that Prime Minister Modi seems to have a knack for converting condescending, elitist remarks on his humble beginnings thrown at him as ‘insults’ by Congress leaders into a matter of pride.
During the run-up to the 2014 elections, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had taken a dig at Prime Minister Modi’s humble beginning as a tea-seller and said that Modi can distribute tea but can never be the Prime Minister.
Modi had then converted that remark as a badge of honour and held ‘Chai Pe Charcha’, discussion forums over tea across the nation as a way to connect directly to voters.
