'Insult to my mother an insult to every mother in India': PM Modi hits out at RJD, Congress

'These abuses are not just an insult to my mother. These are insults to the mothers, sisters and daughters of the country. I know how bad every mother of Bihar has felt after seeing and hearing this', PM said.

New Delhi: In his first response to the abuse to his deceased mother during a political rally of the Opposition in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his mother had nothing to do with politics and it is “unimaginable” that his mother, who is no more, would be insulted in this manner, and in doing so, the Opposition has insulted all the mothers in the country.

“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,” the prime minister said.

“Mother is our world. Mother is our self-respect. I had not even imagined this would happen. My mother had nothing to do with politics, so why was she abused by the RJD and Congress. This is upsetting and distasteful,” Modi said. He was addressing lakhs of women over video-conferencing while inaugurating a slew of initiatives for women.

He said that his mother worked hard to raise him. “My mother would be sick, but she kept working and would save up every penny to get us clothes. There are crores of such mothers in our country. The place of a mother is higher than that of gods and goddesses,” he said.

Modi also said that the insult will be felt by mothers across the country. “These abuses are not just an insult to my mother. These are insults to the mothers, sisters and daughters of the country. I know how bad every mother of Bihar has felt after seeing and hearing this. I know, as much pain as I have in my heart, the people of Bihar are also in the same pain,” Modi said.

The controversy erupted after a video from Rahul Gandhi and Tejaswi Yadav’s voter adhikar rally went viral wherein, on the sidelines of the march, at a function in Darbhanga some youths were seen mouthing abuses on the prime minister’s mother, Heeraben, on the microphone on a stage while holding photos of Gandhi and Yadav. The Congress dismissed the incident as BJP’s agents trying to derail the progress of the yatra.