Fresh row erupts over 'insults to Modi’s mother’ at Tejashwi’s Bihar Adhikar Yatra

The BJP on Sunday (September 21) again raked up the row over RJD workers hurling abusive remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's late mother during Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav's recent 'Bihar Adhikar Yatra'.

This charge was made by the BJP earlier during the 'Vote Chori' yatra held by Congress leader and LoP in the Parliament, Rahul Gandhi in Bihar.

Sharing a video of the purported latest incident on his X handle, deputy chief Minister Samrat Choudhary wrote, "Tejashwi Yadav has once again insulted Modi ji's late mother. He has once again torn apart the culture of Bihar. In the rally, the RJD workers were hurling as many abuses as they could, and Tejashwi was encouraging them. The mothers and sisters of Bihar will surely hold him accountable for this thuggish mentality and abusive behaviour."

PTI could not independently verify the video's authenticity, which has gone viral on social media.

Dirty politics

"This is extremely unfortunate and a grave insult to democracy. Has insulting mothers and sisters become their culture and weapon to counter opposition parties? The people of Bihar understand this dirty politics well and will respond democratically," Choudhary added.

The BJP's Bihar unit said in a post that the "RJD-Congress has one programme, to abuse mothers and sisters".

"Their frustration has reached its peak. Bihar will not forget those abusing a mother. Bihar's mothers and sisters will respond to all abuses," the post further added.

Also Read: Bihar Congress to now probe viral AI video of Modi's deceased mother

Echoing a similar view, another deputy Chief Minister, Vijay Kumar Sinha, wrote in an X post: "Once again, abuses were hurled at the late mother of PM Modi Ji during Tejashwi Yadav's yatra and the RJD leader was boosting the morale of his workers. It's shocking. This shows their mindset".

RJD denies charge

Meanwhile, RJD, the main Opposition in Bihar, has trashed this charge, saying that the BJP was using a doctored video to defame the RJD ahead of the high-voltage Assembly polls.

Mukesh Roushan, RJD's MLA from Bihar's Mahua, responded to this charge in a social media post.

He wrote that Tejashwi Yadav was speaking in his constituency and the speech can be heard in full on a Facebook video he shared.

"No RJD worker or anyone else used any abusive word for the Prime Minister. In the video that the BJP has shared, Tejashwi Yadav can't be heard speaking. They have doctored the video to defame (RJD) as part of a conspiracy," he said in the social media post.

Bihar Yatra

Tejashwi Yadav, who is expected to lead the INDIA bloc charge in the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar, on September 16 launched the 'Bihar Adhikar Yatra' from Jehanabad.

The 35-year-old leader covered strongholds of the ruling NDA, such as Nalanda, the home district of JD(U) supremo and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and Begusarai, the constituency of firebrand BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh, in the first leg of the yatra, which concluded in Vaishali, on September 20.

Major controversy

The politically charged environment of Bihar, where the assembly election is scheduled for later this year, recently saw a major controversy as abuses were allegedly hurled at the PM's late mother by a man from a stage set for Rahul Gandhi's 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Darbhanga district last month.

Amid the row, the Prime Minister said the abuses were not just for his mother, but for crores of mothers and sisters.

Row over AI video

Initially, the Congress tried to defend the video but later sources in the party admitted that it was unclear how it was uploaded on their social media platforms without being "cleared" or approved by the top brass in the party.

(with inputs from agency)