New Delhi: Thanking the people of India for their support in the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday requested them to remove the ‘Modi Ka Parivar’ tag from their profiles on social media.
BJP leaders as well as social media users in March had added the tag in their social media bio, expressing solidarity with PM Modi after RJD chief Lalu Yadav’s ‘Parivarvaad’ (nepotism) jibe.
“Through the election campaign, people across India added ‘Modi Ka Parivar’ to their social media as a mark of affection towards me. I derived a lot of strength from it. The people of India have given the NDA a majority for the third consecutive time, a record of sorts, and have given us the mandate to keep working for the betterment of our nation,” the Prime Minister posted on social media platform ‘X’.
“With the message of all of us being one family having been effectively conveyed, I would once again thank the people of India and request that you may now remove ‘Modi Ka Parivar’ from your social media properties. The display name may change, but our bond as one Parivar striving for India’s progress remains strong and unbroken,” he said.
Through the election campaign, people across India added 'Modi Ka Parivar' to their social media as a mark of affection towards me. I derived a lot of strength from it. The people of India have given the NDA a majority for the third consecutive time, a record of sorts, and have…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 11, 2024
Later, in the day, a number of senior BJP leaders, including ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and functionaries like Amit Malviya, among others, removed the ‘Modi ka Parivar’ tag from their social media bio.
The PMO official account also changed its display picture on social media platform ‘X’ as well as the cover image there. Same was the case with PM Modi’s ‘X’ account.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to ‘X’ and said: “This is the direct impact of Rahul Gandhi’s single minded focus on protection of the Constitution as the defining issue of the 2024 elections.”
This is the direct impact of Rahul Gandhi's singleminded focus on protection of the Constitution as the defining issue of the 2024 elections https://t.co/JYMIwAVFUn
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) June 11, 2024
In March, senior BJP leaders had adopted the tag in solidarity with the Prime Minister, a day after Opposition leader Lalu Yadav quipped that Narendra Modi had no family.
BJP heavyweights Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, J.P. Nadda and Shivraj Singh Chauhan were among those who identified themselves as Modi’s family after the Prime Minister himself delivered a stinging rebuke to the RJD chief’s comment at a rally in Adilabad, Telangana.
“After I questioned their dynasty politics, they have now started saying that Modi has no family. I want to tell them that 140 crore countrymen are my family. Those who have no one also belong to Modi and Modi belongs to them. My India is my family,” Modi told his audience.
This was after the former Bihar chief minister took a swipe at Modi at the INDIA bloc’s Jan Vishwas Maha Rally in Patna ahead of the general elections. “Narendra Modi is attacking ‘parivarvad’ these days. Firstly, you tell us why you do not have any children or family. He accuses people with children of pursuing dynasty politics,” he had said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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