As BJP leaders modified their social media profiles to declare themselves “Modi ka parivar”, the Congress dismissed the “diversionary ploy” and insisted that election time called for accountability and not gimmickry.

However, the BJP initiative seemed to carry echoes of the “Main bhi chowkidar” (I am a watchman too) campaign it had run before the 2019 general election, largely blunting Rahul Gandhi’s “Chowkidar chor hai” (The watchman is himself the thief) slogan against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP’s latest campaign, drawing on Lalu Prasad’s questioning of why Modi had no family, could indeed prove more potent since “dynasty” is perceived to be the Opposition’s Achilles heel.

The Congress asked Modi not to try to divert attention from his failures by milking the “parivar” controversy, and instead explain to the nation why he had not kept his promises.

Party media department chief Pawan Khera and social media head Supriya Shrinate said the BJP and the government should be concerned about the families of the farmers and the youths who have been committing suicide, instead of about Modi’s.

“Finally we discovered who is the head of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s family!” Youth Congress chief B.V. Srinivas posted on X, trying to turn the tables on the BJP.

The Congress has drawn attention to the X profile of BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accused of sexual exploitation of women wrestlers Sourced by The Telegraph

Like other BJP leaders, Brij Bhushan — accused of sexual exploitation of women wrestlers — too had added “Modi ka parivar” to his X bio.

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh posted photographs of Brij Bhushan and junior home minister Ajay Mishra Teni with the text: “Murder of farmers, harassment of women… this is Modi’s real family.”

Teni’s son is accused of mowing down farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, with his father’s car in 2021.

Rahul Gandhi poses for photos with a newly-wed couple during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, in Guna district, Madhya Pradesh. PTI picture

Srinivas posted another message: “Name: Ajay Mishra Teni. Relationship: Modi’s family member. Party: BJP. Achievement: Crushed farmers under the wheels on family’s orders.”

The Congress’s official X handle posted a photograph of the Prime Minister with industrialist Gautam Adani with this caption: “Modi’s real family.”

The BJP countered it with: “Every citizen of the country is Modi’s family.”

But the Congress had more ammo in its arsenal. “Do the women of Manipur find a place in Modi ka Parivar? Will the Prime Minister call the farmers protesting on the borders of Delhi his Parivar?” the party general secretary in charge of organisation, K.C. Venugopal, wrote on X.

“What about the unemployed youth forced to commit suicide everyday - why won’t the Prime Minister call them his Parivar? The reality is, this Government only works for the Prime Minister’s cronies, protects those accused of heinous crimes, and inducts leaders they themselves labelled as corrupt.”

Many Congress leaders pointed to the use of barbed wire, nails on roads, and teargas attacks from drones to prevent a farmers’ march to Delhi and asked whether Modi treated his family members with such cruelty. They asked whether his family had been left to walk hundreds of miles home during the Covid lockdown.

However, Rahul Gandhi, leading the Nyay Yatra in Madhya Pradesh on Monday, dwelt on the alleged Modi-Adani nexus while largely skirting the family discourse.

“Look at that policeman. He is holding a rifle manufactured by India’s ordnance factory. After some time, he will hold a rifle made by Adani,” he said.

“Actually, the rifle is manufactured in Israel and Adani is only a partner. But Adani will sell that rifle to the government. The bullets, the bullet-proof jackets — everything will be supplied by Adani. What’s happening is that Israel and China will get the jobs and Adani will get the profits. And India’s youths will remain jobless.”

He added: “Modi wrote off loans worth Rs 16 lakh crore for 25 or 50 rich people. But he won’t waive farmers’ loans. The annual budget for the MGNREGA is Rs 65,000 crore. With that Rs 16 lakh crore, the MGNREGA can be sustained for 24 years. But Modi says he doesn’t want to spoil the habits of the poor by offering freebies.”

Rahul did make a brief mention of the “parivar” controversy, though, posting a photograph showing Modi with Adani and writing: “Kisan karzdar, yuva berozgar, mazdoor laachar/ Aur desh loot raha hai Modi ka asli parivar (The farmers are debt-ridden, the youth are jobless, the labourers helpless/ And Modi’s real family is looting the country).”