New Delhi: The verbal abuse of his late mother by supporters of the Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) combine, was an insult to every mother, sister and daughter of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday.
This is the first time the PM has spoken out in public about the row that erupted after some people were spotted making derogatory comments against him and his mother from a stage constructed for Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gadhi’s ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar. The RJD and other political parties were also part of the programme.
“A Mother is the world to every child. Mother is our self-respect. I could not have even imagined that something of this nature could take place in this tradition-rich Bihar. My mother was abused from the stage of RJD-Congress in Bihar… These abuses are not just an insult to my mother. These are insults to the mothers, sisters and daughters of the country,” Modi said after launching the Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh Limited to provide easy funds to women entrepreneurs in Bihar.
“I know… how bad all of you, every mother of Bihar, felt after seeing and hearing this! I know that the people of Bihar are also feeling as much pain in their hearts as me…,” the PM said.
“My mother separated me from her so that I could serve crores of mothers like you. You all know that now my mother is not alive. Some time ago, after completing 100 years of age, she left us all. That mother of mine, who has nothing to do with politics, who is no more, was abused from the stage of the RJD, Congress,” Modi added.
Several days have passed since the incident, but there has been no word of condemnation from the Congress and RJD leadership, despite displeasure expressed by the common man. Political observers believe this silence will not stand them good in the Assembly elections in Bihar, scheduled for later this year. Opinion polls have revealed that women in Bihar are in favour of the NDA returning to power.
Modi was addressing nearly 20 lakh women via video conferencing on Tuesday. His statements about his mother Heeraben Modi are bound to have struck a chord among the audience, many of whom were mothers themselves.
“Mother would be sick, but she kept working. She would save up every penny to get clothes made for us. There are crores of such mothers in our country. The place of a mother is higher than that of Gods and Goddesses,” he said.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, a part of the NDA, has also been quick to latch on to the controversy.
“During the Voter Adhikar Yatra in Darbhanga, the use of highly inappropriate language against the Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his late mother from the platform of Congress and RJD is utterly deplorable, and I condemn it,” Nitish Kumar wrote on X.