NDA's 5-hour Bihar bandh call over hurling of abuse at PM Modi's mother gets mixed response

In capital Patna, fewer vehicles plied the roads and some private schools declared a holiday.

Patna: Ruling NDA's five-hour Bihar bandh called to protest the alleged hurling of abuse at the mother of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Congress' recently concluded 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' evoked a mixed response.

In the state capital Patna, fewer vehicles plied the roads and some private schools declared a holiday. Some shopkeepers kept their business establishments open while others closed their shutters during the bandh from 7 am to noon.

Workers from BJP and its NDA allies, including a large number of women, hit the streets to enforce the bandh across the state.

Although police said no untoward incident has been reported from any part of the state, RJD and Congress shared a number of video clips on their social media handles alleging that BJP workers misbehaved with common people and tried to prevent people, including women, from reaching their places of work, railway stations to catch a train and hospitals for medical emergencies.

BJP's alliance partners, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), headed by Union ministers Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi, respectively, extended their support to the bandh.

In Patna, senior BJP leaders, including local MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, state BJP president Dilip Jaiswal and MP Dharmshila Gupta, and other senior leaders participated in a dharna at the party's state unit office.

Speaking to reporters, former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, said, "Bihar will not tolerate the insult to Modi ji's late mother. Their shamelessness is such that not a single senior Congress leader has apologised for the incident so far. This shows the arrogance of the Congress leaders and their alliance partners. People of Bihar will never forget those who hurled abuse at the deceased mother of the PM." JD(U)'s national general secretary and state minister Ashok Choudhary said that the bandh is a symbolic protest aimed at stressing the need for decorum in public life.

"Democracy is all about dialogue, and foul language should not be used even for opponents. This must be ensured at public functions... though people may speak in a manner they wish while in private," he said.

RJD president Lalu Prasad came out with a strongly worded post on his X handle.

"Did PM Modi order BJP members to insult the mothers, sisters, and daughters of Bihar and Biharis today? Gujaratis should not take Biharis so lightly. This is Bihar. Are BJP goons and ruffians abusing respected teachers, women walking on the streets, students, pregnant women, the elderly, and journalists, engaging in physical altercations and mistreating them? Is this appropriate? Shameful," he said.

At Patna's Income Tax roundabout, protesters raised slogans and displayed placards, slamming the Congress and RJD over the hurling of abuse at PM’s mother in Darbhanga.

Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, in a post on X, wrote, "The disrespectful comment made against the late mother of PM Modi has hurt the soul of the entire nation. This is not just an insult to one mother, but to every mother in the country. In protest against this indecent behaviour, the women's wing has taken to the streets. Today, the entire country is united for the dignity of the mother and respect for women." Speaking to PTI, Patna (Central) Superintendent of Police Diksha said, "Adequate forces had been deployed at all points to prevent any untoward incident." Similar protests were organised by NDA constituents in different parts of the state, including Nawada, Khagaria, Katihar, Muzaffarpur, Begusarai and Darbhanga.

Last week, a purported video of a person screaming an expletive into a microphone at a small podium erected on the outskirts of Darbhanga by a local Congress leader went viral, even as the organiser claimed that no party functionary of consequence was present at the time of the incident.

The accused, a 25-year-old resident of Darbhanga, has been arrested, but tempers continue to be frayed with the BJP hitting the streets on the issue and its workers exchanging fisticuffs with Congress leaders at the opposition party's state headquarters.

In his first reaction to the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 2 said he was "deeply pained" by the incident, but asserted that while he might forgive the RJD and the Congress, the people of the state will never "pardon them".

"My late mother had nothing to do with politics, so what was her fault; why was she abused?" he had said, with his voice choking with emotion.

"I may forgive them for once, but the people of this country have never brooked any insult to one's mother... It is now the duty of every son of Bihar to hold the RJD-Congress combine accountable for their conduct. In every town and street, wherever their leaders go, they must get the message loud and clear that insults to mothers and sisters will not be tolerated," the PM had added.