In a scathing attack on the Congress-RJD alliance in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said his mother was verbally abused on a campaign stage of the Opposition bloc. In doing so, he said, the Opposition alliance had humiliated every mother and sister.
“In Bihar, slangs were used for my mother from an RJD-Congress stage. These slangs have not just insulted my mother, but every mother and sister in India. I know you are pained as much as I am after you heard this,” the Prime Minister said after launching the Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh Limited to provide easy funds to women entrepreneurs in Bihar.
Addressing nearly 20 lakh women on video conferencing, Prime Minister Modi said his late mother, Heeraben Modi, struggled against poverty to bring him and his siblings up. “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.
“The slang used on a Congress-RJD stage was not just for my mother, but for crores of mothers and sisters. Princes born in royal families won’t understand the suffering of an underprivileged mother and her son’s struggles. These people have been born with a golden and silver spoon. They believe power in Bihar belongs to their families. But you have blessed an underprivileged mother’s son and made him pradhan sevak. The naamdars (a phrase the Prime Minister uses to target political dynasts in the Opposition) cannot digest this,” he said, taking a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav, both from political dynasties.
“There is a long list of slangs they have used against me. Sometimes they call me neech (despicable), gandi nali ka keeda (low-life), a snake and now they have resorted to calling me ‘tu’,” the Prime Minister said, referring to Mr Gandhi referring to him as “tu” at a rally.