Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday seized on RJD leader Lalu Prasad’s “Modi has no family” jibe and turned it into the election slogan of “Mera Bharat, Mera Parivar (My India, My family)”.

Lalu’s comment seemed to have provided Modi with just the victimhood theme he needed, much like the “Mai bhi Chowkidar” and “chaiwala” motifs of the 2019 and 2014 elections.

“When I question their dynastic politics, they say Modi has no family. My life is an open book, the 140 crore countrymen are my family,” the Prime Minister told a rally in Adilabad, Telangana.

Lalu had at an Opposition rally in Patna on Sunday castigated Modi for targeting Opposition leaders over “dynasty politics”.

“What is Modi? Modi is nothing. He has no family,” he had said, asking the Prime Minister to explain why he had no children. “He accuses people who have many children of indulging in dynasty politics.”

Lalu had also questioned Modi’s Hindu credentials, asking why he had not shaved his beard and tonsured his head when his mother died.

Modi sidestepped the shaving-tonsuring question and latched onto the “no family” barb. “These youths,” he said, pointing to the crowd, “are my family.”

He described how he had left home as a child to dedicate his life to the good of the country.

“The crores of daughters, mothers and sisters in the country are Modi’s family. Every poor person in the country is my family. The crores of children in the country and the old... are Modi’s family,” he said.

He then struck a dramatic note, saying: “Jiska koi nahi hai, woh Modi ka hai aur Modi uska hai (Those who have none to call their own are Modi’s, and Modi is theirs).”

As loud chants of “Modi, Modi” broke out, the Prime Minister delivered the punchline: “Mera Bharat, Mera Parivar.”

He added, for good measure: “Today, the entire country is saying in one voice, ‘Mai hoon Modi ka parivar (I am Modi’s family)’.”

As if on cue, senior ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari and other BJP leaders turned the slogan into a social media campaign by adding “Modi ka parivar” to their bio on X.

Party social media head Amit Malviya launched a campaign with the taglines “MaiHoonModiKaParivar” and “Desh ka jan jan Modi ka parivar (Everyone in the country is Modi’s family)”.

The campaign bore an uncanny similarity to the way Modi had used Rahul Gandhi’s “Chowkidar chor hai” (The watchman is himself the thief) slogan to set off a countrywide “Mai bhi Chowkidar (I am a watchman too)” campaign ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul’s slogan reflected his allegation of corruption in the government’s purchase of Rafale fighter jets, and drew on Modi’s claim that he saw himself more as a corruption watchdog or “chowkidar” than a Prime Minister.

But as an army of BJP leaders, workers and supporters buttressed the “Mai bhi Chowkidar” campaign on Twitter, Modi appended “Chowkidar” to his Twitter profile and crowed: “Your chowkidar is standing firm and serving the country.”

He added: “But I am not alone. Everyone who is fighting corruption, dirt, social evils is a chowkidar.... Today every Indian is saying MaiBhiChowkidar.”

Party leaders said the campaign had enabled the BJP to turn the tables on Rahul.

In the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar had dismissed Modi as a “chaiwala” (tea seller) who could never become Prime Minister. This was an allusion to Modi’s claim that he used to sell tea at a railway station as a child.

Modi projected Aiyar’s comment as an insult hurled at his humble origins by a member of the entrenched political elite with links to the Nehru-Gandhi family.

He milked the comment at every rally and had a series of “Chai pe charcha” (Discussions over tea) events organised across the country in the lead-up to the election.