Kharge's 'Modi ka baap bhi jayega' retort sparks ruckus at Patna event — heckler says he was misunderstood

PATNA — Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge sparked a political row on Sunday after snapping back at a heckler during an address in Patna, only for the man at the centre of the exchange to say he had been misunderstood.

Kharge was speaking at an event marking the 139th birth anniversary of Shri Krishna Singh, Bihar’s first chief minister, when a man in the audience was heard saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not go anywhere. Kharge replied twice: “Modi ka baap bhi jayega” — “Even his father will have to go” — according to NDTV, which cited video of the exchange shared by news agency ANI.

The man, identified by NDTV as Santosh Kumar, was surrounded by attendees, thrown to the ground and thrashed before being pushed out of the venue, NDTV reported.

Then came the twist. Kumar said he had been misunderstood: he had actually been saying that Modi would not go to jail unless there was a revolt, while Kharge had been saying Modi would go to jail. “I was saying that unless there is a revolt, Modi will not go. But only a part of it was heard and was misunderstood,” he said after being pushed out.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked Kharge as soon as the remark went viral. BJP spokesperson Tuhin A Sinha wrote on X that the behaviour showed “growing frustration in Congress ranks”, NDTV reported.

At the same event, Kharge dubbed protests against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls a “second war of independence”, demanding an immediate halt to the exercise, the use of ballot papers in all future elections and the annulment of all assembly polls held over the past two years, Times Now reported. He also alleged that the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP was deepening divisions in the country.

Sources: NDTV; Times Now; ABP News.