BJP leaders make ‘Modi Ka Parivar’ statement after Lalu Prasad’s ‘no family’ jibe at PM

New Delhi, Mar 4 (PTI) The BJP on Monday rallied around Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its leaders suffixed their names on social media profiles with “Modi Ka Parivar”, a day after RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav took a jibe at him for having no family.

Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Nirmala Sitharaman, and BJP chief JP Nadda were joined by party members from across the country in declaring themselves as “Modi Ka Parivar (Modi’s family)” on their social media accounts, as the ruling party launched a sharp counterattack on the opposition.

Many Modi-supporting social media users also made the same change on their pages.

Sudhanshu Trivedi, a BJP national spokesperson, told reporters that opposition parties have been launching personal attacks against Modi and making such “petty” remarks against him for the past 16-17 years.

“In that series, yesterday (Sunday), at a rally in Patna, once again such petty remarks were made against Prime Minister Modi by Lalu Prasad Yadav in the presence of INDI alliance leaders. This is sad and painful,” Trivedi said at a press conference at the BJP headquarters here.

“He (Yadav) has talked about Modi’s family. I want to remind him (Yadav) that, for Prime Minister Modi, the entire country is his family,” the BJP leader said, asserting that people of the country will give a fitting reply to the “political arrogance” of the opposition parties.

Some opposition parties have formed the INDIA bloc to take on the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Trivedi said Modi left his home long ago with a resolve to work for society and take India to its highest glory, considering the entire country his family.

“That’s why he never gets tired. No one feels tired while working for their family. That’s why Prime Minister Modi did not take leave even for a single day in the last 10 years,” he added.

The BJP’s show of solidarity around its top leader in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections is reminiscent of a similar campaign the party had mounted prior to the 2019 general elections with the “Main Bhi Chowkidar” addition to their names to take on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “Chowkidar Chor Hai” dig at Modi.

The campaign around the prime minister’s perceived image of honesty and anti-corruption spearhead turned out to be a big success as the Congress’ attempts to target him over alleged corruption in the Rafale fighter aircraft deal proved to be a non-starter.

Modi led the BJP to a bigger win in the polls while the Congress was decimated one more time in 2019.

The prime minister has been asserting that the entire country is his family, a point he made again at a rally in Adilabad in Telangana on Monday where he said that 140 crore people of India are his family.

Soon after the rally, BJP leaders added “Modi Ka Parivar” to their profiles.

Modi also attacked “dynastic parties” in the country, saying they may have different faces, but “jhoot and loot” was their common character.

Yadav, while addressing an INDIA bloc rally in Patna on Sunday, had slammed Modi for raising the issue of dynastic politics and asked why the prime minister doesn’t have a family.

The RJD supremo had also asked why Modi, who calls himself a Hindu, did not shave his beard and tonsure his head after his mother’s death.

Reacting sharply, Trvedi questioned the RJD leader’s understanding of Hindu religion and said it is a disciple and a devotee who is important in Hinduism, not son.

“There is a guru-shishya tradition in India, not father-son tradition,” he said and asked, “…You may have seen thousands of temples of Lord Hanuman ji, who was a devotee and a disciple of Lord Ram. Have you ever seen any temple of His sons Luv and Kush?”

“Lalu Parasad Yadav said Modi is not a Hindu. For this INDI gathbandhan (alliance), no one is Hindu,” Trivedi charged.

The BJP spokesperson said while the saffron party’s goal under the leadership of Modi is to make India a developed country by 2047, the opposition parties have the sole target of “gaining power and keeping it in their families’ hands till 2047 to strengthen their economy”.

“We say whether we live or not, India should live. They say whether India lives or not, our families should live,” Trivedi alleged.