From ‘SIR’ to ‘Maa’: Modi redraws Bihar battlelines — with Opposition playing its part

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the launch of the Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh Limited. (X:@BJP4India)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday tore into the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal, alleging that abusive language directed at his late mother from an Opposition stage in Bihar was an insult to all mothers and daughters of the state.

Speaking virtually after launching the Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh Limited, Modi’s emotionally charged remarks shifted the spotlight from the Opposition’s campaign against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to a personal attack narrative — one that has repeatedly served the BJP well in poll battles.

What triggered Modi’s response

The Prime Minister was referring to an incident during Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra in Darbhanga, where a local party supporter, Mohammed Rizwi, allegedly hurled abuses at him and his late mother from an Opposition stage. Rizwi has since been arrested.

“From the RJD-Congress stage in Bihar, my mother was abused. This is not just an insult to my mother, but to the mothers, sisters and daughters of the country,” Modi said. He recalled how his mother, who passed away last year at the age of 100, had “nothing to do with politics” yet was “subjected to vile abuses.”

Changing the narrative

For the past fortnight, the Opposition had been hammering away at the SIR exercise, branding it “vote-chori” and accusing the Election Commission of acting at the BJP’s behest. Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s 14-day, 1,300-km Yatra covering 110 constituencies across 25 districts had given the charge momentum.

RJD और कांग्रेस वालों से आपको जवाब मांगना चाहिए।

हर गली-मोहल्ले से एक ही आवाज आनी चाहिए -

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मां को गाली... नहीं सहेंगे, नहीं सहेंगे...

इज्जत पर वार... नहीं सहेंगे, नहीं सहेंगे...

RJD का अत्याचार... नहीं सहेंगे, नहीं सहेंगे...

कांग्रेस का वार...नहीं सहेंगे, नहीं सहेंगे...… pic.twitter.com/Dbr8MKlqXN

— BJP (@BJP4India) September 2, 2025

But within hours of the Yatra’s conclusion, Modi turned the focus to the Darbhanga controversy, painting it as yet another attack on his personal dignity. “The Congress has never tolerated any backward person rising ahead,” he said, recalling past barbs like “neech” and “maut ka saudagar.”

Eye on the women vote

By invoking his late mother, Modi sought to rally Bihar’s women voters — a bloc that has repeatedly proved decisive for the NDA. In 2020, women’s turnout (60%) outstripped men’s (54%), with women outnumbering men in 167 of 243 constituencies. Post-poll surveys also showed a clear edge for the NDA among women across most communities.

“The women of Bihar have played a key role in repeatedly defeating the RJD. That is why RJD and Congress want to take revenge on you,” Modi told women beneficiaries of the new scheme.

Opposition silence, BJP’s gain

Neither the Congress nor the RJD has condemned the abusive remarks so far — a silence that may have allowed the BJP to turn the episode into a potent electoral issue. In contrast, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi criticised the indecent language, warning that it “crossed the limits of decency.”

Modi has often converted personal attacks into political windfalls — most famously after Mani Shankar Aiyar’s “neech” remark in 2017. With Bihar polls nearing, the Opposition’s failure to distance itself from the Darbhanga incident could once again hand the BJP a rallying point on a platter.