Disrespecting Modi’s Father? BJP’s Old Toolkit of Political Deflection
The coordinated political and media response to the controversy raises questions about whether the BJP is shifting attention from criticism on the streets to a debate over personal remarks. (Image Modi on X)
By MANISH ANAND
The coordinated political and media response to the controversy raises questions about whether the BJP is shifting attention from criticism on the streets to a debate over personal remarks.
New Delhi, October 27, 2026 — As the saying goes, “there’s a method to the madness”. The coordinated responses from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) voices, amplified by sections of the mainstream media, raise a familiar question: is the party once again resorting to political deflection when challenged on the streets?
On Valmiki Day when schools in Uttar Pradesh were closed to accord highest honour to the sage, a major section of the mainstream media gave prominence to the BJP’s fielding of its voices to express anger against Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge’s remarks made in Patna that “Modi ke baap ko bhi jana hoga.”
In 2022, when Kharge became Congress president, the message from the BJP unit in Karnataka was clear and unequivocal: don’t attack Kharge, for the risk to lose the Dalit vote base is high. Until Monday, the BJP religiously followed the guidance and focussed on the Gandhi family, and Rahul Gandhi in particular. But Rahul lately hasn’t been giving the BJP the scope to run to the town on complaints of attacks on Modi personally.
On Monday, the BJP even held protests across the country, and one in Delhi where the party’s senior functionaries mounted a decorated truck had roughly 100 onlookers.
Last month, the BJP gave a call for lighting a Diya (earthen lamp) for “blessings” for Modi after the prime minister completed 25 years of public service. The party possibly believed that the people would repeat the spectacle of banging of utensils during the Corona outbreak when the call was given by Modi. Even the ardent followers of Modi refused to light the earthen lamp in their balconies.
Between Corona outbreak and the street fury against the Election Commission’s special intensive revision (SIR), Modi has undergone a leadership transformation — from a firm leader sure of his position to a nervous and ageing head of the BJP whose fear of street protests is turning terminal. Yet the large section of the media remains most loyal to him, as it amplifies the excessively exploited toolkit of deflection.
In the past, the deflection toolkit has worked. In 2017, the BJP feared losing Gujarat Assembly elections. Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, when Gujarat polls were only a few days way, handed over the state to Modi on a platter. He attacked Modi for his background of a “Chai wallah.” Modi played his OBC card to the hilt.
From Sam Pitroda to Aiyar and even Sonia Gandhi, the Congress regularly gave Modi scopes to play the emotional cards. Modi as his wont reaped the political windfalls.
But seasons change and mood also shift. Late Ram Vilas Paswan often said that “an era changes in seven years (saat saal me yug badal jaata hai).” In Modi’s case, it’s over 12 years at the helm. From transforming India by 2019, Modi speaks of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
To silence the streets in Delhi, Modi-led government eventually banked on intimidation — first by allowing the police and the paramilitary to assault the peaceful protestors, and then by forcing prominent faces into signing bonds while suggesting that defiance will bring days spent in the Tihar Jail.
On November 1, the Congress is bringing back the crowd at the Ramlila Ground. On October 26, the BJP amplified the literal translation of Kharge’s outbursts in Patna. Dots seemingly connect to suggest a script in the writing of a nervous Modi spurring the BJP into a greater nervousness.
(This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author’s own.)
Follow The Raisina Hills on WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn
About The Author
