The air in Patna turned electric on Sunday when Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge broke from his scripted speech to trade insults with a man in the audience. The heckler, challenging the opposition leader’s rhetoric, shouted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not go anywhere. Kharge, visibly agitated, snapped back with the now-viral retort: "Modi ka baap bhi jayega... Chal." The exchange, captured on video, quickly became the defining moment of the event, overshadowing the official purpose of the gathering.
The confrontation happened as Kharge addressed a rally marking the 139th birth anniversary of Bihar’s first chief minister, Krishna Singh. He used the platform to launch a full-scale attack on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, labeling the exercise a "second war of independence." Kharge accused the Election Commission of manipulating voter lists to delete the names of opposition supporters, a claim that has fueled protests across several states. He did not mince words about the integrity of the current electoral process, urging citizens to take to the streets to safeguard the Constitution.
Kharge’s demands were specific and radical. He called for an immediate halt to the SIR exercise and the annulment of all assembly polls conducted over the past two years. He also insisted on a return to ballot papers for all future elections, arguing that electronic voting machines lack transparency. "Governments stolen through 'vote chori' in West Bengal, Haryana, Bihar, and Maharashtra must be removed," he said, directly targeting the ruling parties' mandates in these states. His rhetoric positioned the SIR not merely as an administrative update, but as a systematic attempt to rig the democratic process.
The speech also took a sharp ideological swing against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP. Kharge alleged that the RSS’s ideology was deepening divisions within the country and that peace was impossible as long as this influence remained. "As long as RSS ideology is not eliminated, there will be no peace in the country," he claimed. He framed the Congress as the guardian of unity and equality, contrasting its stance with what he described as the BJP’s divisive politics. This hardline stance signals that the opposition intends to make the electoral roll controversy a central campaign issue in the upcoming state elections, where the SIR is already a flashpoint.