Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed, for the first time, the controversy surrounding a viral video in which alleged abusive language was used against his late mother. Speaking at the launch of the Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh Limited, an emotional PM Modi called the incident “painful” and said it was not just an insult to his mother but to every mother and daughter in Bihar.

With his voice cracking during the speech, the Prime Minister said, “My mother is no more, yet she is being targeted. She had nothing to do with politics. What was her fault?”

The comments came after a video clip circulated on social media last week, reportedly showing unidentified individuals using a Hindi abuse directed at PM Modi from a stage during Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar. The video is said to have been shot in Darbhanga district on the day the yatra began, with Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav seen riding motorcycles as part of the campaign. The authenticity of the video has not been independently verified.

As PM Modi spoke, Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal was seen breaking down in the audience.

“Hurling abuse at my mother means nothing to those who have no respect for ‘Mother India’ either. Such people must be held accountable,” PM Modi said, taking direct aim at the Congress and RJD.

He recalled how his mother raised him and his siblings under severe financial hardship. “She would never buy a new saree for herself and would save every penny for our family,” he shared.

Targeting Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, Modi said, “These yuvrajs who were born in royal families can never understand the tapasya of a poor mother or the pain of her son. They think power in Bihar and India is their family’s inheritance.”

Modi also slammed what he called the “anti-women mindset” of parties like the RJD, accusing them of enabling crime and lawlessness in the past. “When parties with this mindset come to power, it’s the women who suffer the most. During the RJD era, Bihar saw rampant crime—murders, rapes, and kidnappings were common. Criminals were protected. And it was the women of Bihar who bore the brunt of it,” he said.

The BJP has reacted strongly to the alleged abuse, with party leaders accusing the Congress and RJD of stooping to a new low in political discourse.

BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra directly blamed Rahul Gandhi, saying, “The Congress, which once led the freedom struggle, has now become a ‘gali wali party’ because the Gandhi family is unable to return to power.”

Patra added, “Congress ki galiyon ki dukan seal hogi, aur iski shuruaat Bihar se hogi (Congress’s shop of abuses will be shut down, starting from Bihar).”

In a post on X, the BJP said: “Tejashwi and Rahul are behind the use of such filthy language that it cannot even be repeated in public. This Yatra has crossed all limits of insult, hate, and tastelessness.”

Meanwhile, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav continues to accompany Rahul Gandhi on the Voter Adhikar Yatra, which was launched on August 17 to protest what the Congress alleges is large-scale vote tampering by the Election Commission at the behest of the BJP.

The incident has added a fresh layer of controversy to an already heated political environment in poll-bound Bihar.