By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2026-10-25 15:08:20
"Modi ka baap bhi jayega", said 84-year-old Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, when someone in a Congress meeting in Patna on October 25 was heard saying "Modi nahi jayega". For effect, Kharge repeated the remark thrice, much like characters used to do in Ekta Kapoor's saas-bahu serials before OTT made them outdated. And here the country was wondering about the vocabulary of 20-year-olds during the protests at Jantar Mantar!
The Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput took pains to point out that Kharge was using an idiom and that Modi had used much more abusive language in his speeches. First, one does not think that "baap bhi jayega" is an idiom used by the common man. It is a highly offensive and insulting phrase which is used often to belittle people, Further, if Modi has used more abusive language, does that grant a licence to the Congress leaders to use the same or worse? One wrong cannot justify another.
The Congress, at its wits' end after facing successive electoral defeats, has latched on to the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) controversy and is attempting to bring what amounts to a 'regime change' through street protests. It has failed at the ballots, terms the elections rigged and wants Modi to go by turning up the heat of the streets. But, if the elections are rigged, as they say, then the best way is to discredit them by boycotting them, as Abhijeet Dipke of the CJP has suggested. But the Congress, or any other political party, will not boycott elections as it will immediately cause a collapse of their election machinery and infrastructure. It is easy for pressure groups to advise boycott but difficult for political parties to accept it.
The street can supply noise, but only the ballot can supply a government. Until the Congress grasps the difference, it will keep raising its voice and losing the count, and 'Modi ka baap bhi jayega' will remain not a political programme but a frustration, repeated thrice for effect.









