The Bihar unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) marked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 75th birthday with posters in Patna that have set off a political storm. The posters depicted Narendra Modi’s late mother, Heeraben, as Goddess Durga, with the Prime Minister represented as the lion at her feet. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav appeared in the artwork as demons.
The commemorative poster has reignited a row over remarks made at a Congress RJD rally, allegedly insulting PM Modi's mother. The controversy first erupted on 27 August during the Voter Adhikar Yatra organised by the Congress and the RJD in Darbhanga. Slogans containing expletives aimed at Modi and his deceased mother were allegedly raised from the stage.
Calling the incident “unimaginable”, Modi said it amounted to “an insult to all mothers, sisters and daughters of the country.” He asked pointedly, “My mother had nothing to do with politics, so why was she abused by the RJD and Congress?”
The Prime Minister further charged that those responsible displayed “a mindset that considers women weak”, insisting that the abuse insulted “not just me, but every woman in the country.”
The episode sparked outrage within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Its women’s wing in Bihar enforced a five-hour bandh, describing the remarks as an assault on the dignity of women across the state. BJP leaders demanded public apologies from the Congress and the RJD.
Both opposition parties, however, claimed the abusive slogans were raised by “unknown individuals” and fell “outside their control.”
The dispute deepened when the Bihar Congress released an AI-generated video on X. The 36-second clip, captioned “Maa appears in sahab’s dreams”and clearly marked “AI GENERATED”, showed dream-like visuals resembling a conversation between Modi and his late mother.
The BJP denounced the video as a “deliberate attempt to hurt sentiments” ahead of the Bihar elections. The Congress maintained there was “no intention to disrespect anyone.”
The controversy quickly turned legal. On Saturday, Delhi Police lodged an FIR against the Congress and its IT cell, based on a complaint filed by Sanket Gupta, convenor of the BJP’s Delhi Election Cell.
