The BJP launched a ‘Modi ka Parivar’ campaign ahead of the Lok Sabha elections after RJD supremo Lalu Prasad said the Prime Minister had “no family” at a recent rally. This is not the first time that the saffron party has taken advantage of the opposition’s digs at Narendra Modi.
India’s opposition bloc has once again given the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) an opportunity to pile on its mockery and turn it into a political campaign ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s recent ‘no family’ remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the saffron party a new slogan: ‘Mera Bharat, Mera Parivar“.
These developments evoke memories of 2019 and 2014, when the BJP used opposition barbs for its election campaigns.
Let’s take a look at what’s happening.
“Modi ka Parivar” in 2024
Several Union ministers, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, along with BJP leaders added: “Modi Ka Parivar (Modi’s Family)’ as a suffix to their profile names on X after PM Modi responded to the RJD supremo that he has no family.
Speaking at a rally in Telangana’s Adilabad on Monday (March 4), Modi said the “140 million people of this country” are his “family”. “The people of the nation consider me as their own. They love me like a member of their family. And that’s why I say the 140 million people of this country are my family.
“The young people, they are my family. Millions of daughters, mothers and sisters in the country…the poor of the country…are my family. The country’s millions of children and elderly people constitute Modi’s family. Those who have no one belong to Modi and Modi belongs to them. My Bharat, my family,” he added.
The Prime Minister’s remarks came a day after RJD chief Lalu Prasad attacked him during the INDIA bloc’s ‘Jan Vishwas Maha Rally’ in Patna. The former Bihar chief minister had said: “Modi keeps talking about pariwarwaad (dynastic politics). What can we do if Narendra Modi does not have his own family? He keeps bragging about the Ram temple. He’s not even a real Hindu. In Hindu tradition, a son must shave his head and beard upon the death of his parents. Modi didn’t do it when his mother died.
Prime Minister Modi responded to this in Telangana, saying that he left home at a very young age to serve people as “sevak“, adding that he targeted “dynastic parties” for their “jhooth And booty (lies and loot)”, according to Indian express.
Monday afternoon, “Modi Ka Parivar” started trending onMaiHoonModiKaParivar” And “Desh ka jan jan Modi ka parivar (Every citizen of the country is Modi’s family).”
“It will become a mass movement. People from all walks of life could relate to the new phrase “Modi Ka Parivaar“and this could be another emotional connect between the Prime Minister and common people,” said a senior BJP leader. News18.
‘Mera Bharat, Mera Parivar (entire nation is my family)’: PM Modi hits back at Lalu Yadav for ‘you are not a Hindu, you have no family’ attack
‘Personal attacks on the Prime Minister have never worked’: News18’s @AmanKayamHai_ @poonam_burde | #PMModi #LaluYadav pic.twitter.com/hyhHCKQcAG
– News18 (@CNNnews18) March 4, 2024
Another senior party leader said common people would make this campaign “bigger” and this would resonate with them as PM Modi addressed the audience saying: “simple parivarjano (my family members)” during all his recent gatherings, reported News18.
“Main Bhi Chowkidar” in 2019
These identical changes made by BJP leaders to their online profiles are similar to the updates they made in 2019.
After Congress leader Rahul Gandhi gave the “Chowkidar Chor Hai“slogan ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, prefixed by top BJP leaders”Chowkidar‘ on their profiles on Twitter (now X).
Gandhi and other opposition leaders tried to corner Prime Minister Modi, accusing him of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal with France in the run-up to the 2019 general elections. However , the Congress leader’Chowkidar Chor Hai“The jibe backfired as the BJP used the opportunity to show solidarity with the Prime Minister.
The saffron party has launched campaigns reinforcing Prime Minister Modi’s clean image and his “na khaunga, na khane dunga” motto. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) returned with a thumping majority in the 2019 general elections.
‘Chai Pe Charcha‘ in 2014
Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar stirred up a controversy that appears to have benefited the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections at the expense of the Grand Old Party.
“He could sell tea at a Congress conclave,” the former Union minister had told Modi then.Chaiwala“The jibe boosted the BJP”Chai Pe Charcha“Poll campaign across the country. The party also used the opportunity to portray Modi as someone with “humble beginnings” while portraying the Congress as elitist.
The BJP defeated the Congress by winning 282 seats in the Lok Sabha. The Grand Old Party was reduced to just 44 seats in the 543-member lower house.
With the contribution of agencies
firstpost
