Kharge's Modi Remark Triggers Protest Call After Patna Audience Member Says He Was Misheard

A disputed interruption becomes a national confrontation

A remark at a Patna gathering on October 25, 2026, has prompted a nationwide BJP protest call and a written police complaint against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. At the centre of the confrontation is Santosh Kumar, an audience member who was beaten and expelled after saying words he insists were misunderstood.

Kharge was speaking about alleged electoral fraud and sending those responsible to jail when Kumar was heard saying, "Modi kahin nahin jayega", meaning Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not go anywhere. Kharge replied, "Modi ka baap bhi jayega", meaning even Modi's father would have to go, and repeated the remark three times.

Kumar later said he had been arguing for Modi's removal from power, not defending him. The BJP treated Kharge's response as an insult to the prime minister's late father and demanded an unconditional apology. Congress leaders defended the wording as an idiom, while some continued to describe Kumar as a BJP supporter.

The exchange has brought together three disputes: what Kumar actually meant, whom Kharge was referring to, and whether his response crossed the boundary between political criticism and personal insult. The assault on Kumar adds a separate, concrete consequence for the person whose words started the confrontation.

What happened inside the Patna hall?

The gathering marked the 139th birth anniversary of Shri Krishna Singh, Bihar's first chief minister. Kharge was addressing allegations of irregularities in SIR, the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Electoral rolls are the lists used to determine who can vote; a revision checks and updates those lists.

Kharge said people responsible for wrongdoing in that process would be sent to jail when Congress came to power. His speech also included criticism of Modi's promise to bring back black money and of the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS.

Kumar, wearing a dark orange shirt, spoke from the audience during the discussion of imprisonment. After the words about Modi staying were heard, Kharge responded angrily and raised his right arm while repeating the reference to Modi's father.

Several attendees then surrounded Kumar, threw him to the ground, beat him and forced him out of the hall. The immediate reaction treated him as a hostile interrupter. His explanation outside the venue described a very different intention.

Santosh Kumar says the missing words changed his meaning

Kumar said he wanted a public mobilisation against Modi and had been trying to make that point during Kharge's speech. He explained that the condition at the beginning of his sentence had been lost in the noise.

Santosh Kumar, the audience member expelled from the gathering, gave this account afterward:

I was saying that 'unless there is a revolt, Modi will not go'. But only a part of it was heard and was misunderstood.

Kumar also criticised Modi's record over 12 years as prime minister and said people across the country were rising against him. His description of a public revolt was an expression of his political position.

Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram nevertheless described Kumar as a BJP supporter who had said "BJP-type things". When told Kumar identified himself as a Congressman who had been misheard, Ram maintained his position.

BJP MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra offered a different interpretation. He presented the interruption as evidence that a Congress worker lacked confidence in Rahul Gandhi's ability to lead the party to victory. Kumar's own explanation was that he wanted Modi out of power but believed public action was necessary.

Congress offers competing explanations

Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput defended Kharge's response as a familiar expression rather than a literal reference to a family member. Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel similarly argued that the wording was a way of speaking, and accused Modi of having used insulting language himself.

Pawan Khera, a Congress leader, gave another account of the interruption. He said a BJP worker had challenged Kharge by saying Modi would stay even if Kharge's father came. Kumar's account instead described an appeal for public revolt. Khera also said Kharge's answer referred to the RSS and its chief, Mohan Bhagwat, as Modi's ideological father.

Khera accused the BJP and RSS of repeated disrespect toward Kharge and linked the incident to an earlier controversy over a purported purification ritual in Uttarakhand. He alleged that Kharge had been targeted because he is Dalit and accused Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of directing the hostility.

Rajesh Ram said Kharge had intended to hurt nobody. Congress Seva Dal chief Srinivas BV pointed to verbal attacks on former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, while returning to the claim that people accused of wrongdoing would go to jail.

The party's responses therefore followed several lines at once: an idiom, an ideological reference, a reply to provocation and a comparison with Modi's past language. The BJP focused on the ordinary meaning of "baap", or father, and the dignity of Modi's deceased parent.

Shah and other BJP leaders demand an apology

Amit Shah accused Congress of abandoning political decorum. In a post on X, the Union home minister placed Kharge's remark alongside earlier attacks on Modi and his family.

Shah described what he regarded as a repeated pattern:

They have hurled insults at his revered mother, called him 'merchant of death', and mocked his poverty by calling him 'chaiwala'.

Shah also argued that electoral defeats over 12 years had left Congress without policies or issues and pushed it toward abusive politics. BJP president Nitin Nabin said the opposition was resorting to personal attacks because it lacked substantive arguments about development, policy and public welfare.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath demanded an apology and action by Congress against its president. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said political competition should centre on policies and ideas. BJP spokesperson Tuhin Sinha called Kharge's language "disgusting, petulant, uncouth".

The Janata Dal (United) also objected, describing the remarks as a breach of standards in political language. Union minister Giriraj Singh offered a particularly sweeping response, saying Modi would remain in power for at least another 30 years. His statement was a political prediction.

Protests and a written police complaint

The BJP announced demonstrations for Monday, October 26, at its state headquarters across India. Its directions called for peaceful but firm protests, with party leaders demanding an unconditional apology from Kharge.

In Patna, the party also announced an effigy burning at Income Tax Circle on the morning of October 26. The planned actions moved the dispute beyond statements by national leaders and gave state organisations a specific programme of protest.

Krishna Singh Kallu, a member of the BJP's state executive committee, submitted a written complaint at Patna's Kotwali police station. He accused Kharge of using offensive and indecent language about the prime minister and his father at a public event.

The police response to that complaint, including whether an FIR was registered, was not specified. No details were given about Kumar's injuries or police action over his beating. The next announced event was the BJP's October 26 protest programme.

How the confrontation unfolded

The dispute developed rapidly from a few words inside a hall into a coordinated political campaign. Its sequence helps explain why Kumar's later clarification did not settle the competing party accounts.

• October 25, 2026: Kharge addressed a Patna event marking Shri Krishna Singh's 139th birth anniversary and discussed alleged electoral irregularities.
• During the speech: Kumar was heard saying Modi would not go anywhere. Kharge responded with the remark about Modi's father.
• Immediately afterward: Attendees beat Kumar and expelled him from the venue.
• Outside the hall: Kumar said he had meant that Modi would stay unless there was a public revolt.
• As the dispute spread: BJP leaders demanded an apology, Congress leaders defended Kharge, and Krishna Singh Kallu submitted a police complaint.
• October 26, 2026: The BJP scheduled demonstrations at state headquarters and an effigy burning in Patna.

For Kumar, the immediate result was physical violence and exclusion from the meeting. For the parties, the focus shifted toward public conduct and family references, taking attention away from the electoral allegations Kharge had been discussing.

Earlier controversies explain the political response

Kharge's language has produced similar disputes before, often followed by an explanation that he was attacking an ideology or political practice rather than an individual. Those earlier episodes help explain why both parties quickly reached for familiar arguments in Patna.

During the Karnataka election campaign on April 27, 2023, Kharge compared Modi to a poisonous snake. He later expressed regret and said his criticism concerned the BJP and its divisive ideology. In Ahmedabad on November 29, 2022, he questioned the repeated use of Modi's face in election campaigns by invoking Ravana's 100 heads. Modi responded that the remark insulted Gujarat and Gujaratis.

In October 2024, Kharge called the BJP a terrorist party while responding to Modi's accusation that Congress was controlled by urban Naxals. Kharge cited lynchings and violence; BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the comment reflected the Congress mindset.

Two further disputes arose in April 2026. At an Assam rally, Kharge compared the BJP and RSS to a poisonous snake, prompting police complaints. Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge defended that comparison as a metaphor about ideologies that spread hatred.

During campaigning in Chennai later that month, Kharge used the word "terrorist" while questioning the AIADMK's alliance with Modi. He subsequently said he meant tax terrorism and raids by the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and Central Bureau of Investigation.

The issue beneath the argument over words

Kharge's Patna speech began with allegations about the administration of elections. His promise to jail those responsible was a political pledge tied to Congress returning to power. Criminal punishment requires investigation and a court process, rather than a change of government alone.

The BJP's response centred on another standard: political opponents should debate government decisions without targeting deceased family members. Congress defenders argued that the language was figurative and that the BJP applied different standards to statements made by Modi.

Kumar's treatment adds a matter neither interpretation resolves. A person speaking from the audience was physically attacked after others assumed he opposed the speaker. His later explanation described support for the broad political aim Kharge was advancing.

The combination is what gives this episode its particular force: an argument about alleged electoral wrongdoing became a confrontation over a father reference, while the audience member at its centre was assigned opposing political identities by the two parties. His account remained that he had wanted to urge action against Modi.

Key Points

• Kharge's October 25 remark in Patna prompted BJP demands for an unconditional apology.
• Santosh Kumar said his interruption meant Modi would stay unless there was a public revolt.
• Attendees beat Kumar and expelled him before he gave that explanation outside.
• Congress leaders defended Kharge through arguments about idiom, ideology and provocation.
• A BJP state executive member submitted a written complaint at Patna's Kotwali police station.
• The BJP announced nationwide protests for October 26 and an effigy burning in Patna.