Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Less than two months to go for the Lok Sabha elections where Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party seeks a third consecutive term in power, the Opposition may have gone on and done the unthinkable. With a demonstrated history of Modi turning personal attacks against him in his favour, the latest gaffe is unlikely to go unpunished electorally.

Addressing a rally in Telangana’s Adilabad on Monday, PM Modi said that crores of people in the country consider me as their own. “I say this to the 140 crore people of the country that this is my family. Those who have no one also belong to Modi and Modi belongs to them,” the Prime Minister said.

The PM’s remarks came a day after Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav took a jab at the Prime Minister’s criticism of Opposition parties, including the RJD, of using politics to further the interests of their families.

“What can we do if Narendra Modi does not have a family of his own?” Lalu said.

Soon after the PM’s remarks, the BJP kicked off a massive campaign that saw Union minister Amit Shah, BJP president and a host of other senior party leaders adding the ‘Modi Ka Parivar’ suffix to their handle names on social media platform X.

The development mirrors similar instances in the past where the BJP has rallied behind Modi following an untoward remark by an Opposition leader in the middle of crucial elections. From former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s ‘Maut ka Saudagar’, Mani Shanker Aiyar’s ‘Chaiwala’ and ‘Neech’ to Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chowkidaar Chor Hai’, past elections have shown how effectively the BJP can turn such personal attacks against the PM to its advantage.

‘Chai-wala’ to ‘Neech’: How Mani Shankar Aiyar aided Modi’s rise

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, a nation desperate for change had rallied behind Modi who had been annointed as the PM candidate by the BJP. With a wave of support behind him, Modi was tearing into the Congress in a campaign that the BJP had never seen before. In the thick of the action, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar claimed that Modi would never become the Prime Minister of India. “He could sell tea at a Congress conclave,” he had said.

The remark enabled Modi to present himself as a leader who rose the ranks from modest beginnings. The ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ campaign became the talk of the town in peak poll season. Modi led the BJP to an unprecedented victory that saw the party form its first government on its own at the Centre.

Refusing to take lessons from the past, Aiyar targeted Modi again ahead of the Gujarat elections in 2017, referring to the Prime Minister as a “neech aadmi”. Modi spun the remark into a casteist slur used against him by the Congress leader. The narrative shifted the groundswell to the BJP’s advantage despite the massive success of the Patidar agitation that had put the then BJP government on the back foot.

‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’: How Rahul Gandhi’s Rafale offensive turned turtle

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the issue of alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal with France had emerged as the biggest poll campaign for the Congress. In the course of the campaign, Rahul, the then Congress president, repeatedly referred to the Rafale scam to target PM Modi and accused him of facilitating massive kickbacks in exchange for a costlier deal. ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ became Rahul’s choice weapon to target the PM.

However, the BJP turned the allegations upside down by launching a massive “Main Bhi Chowkidar” campaign to counter the Congress leader’s offensive. Several BJP leaders had then added “Main bhi chowkidar” to their social media handles to counter Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “Chowkidaar chor hai” jab at the Prime Minister. The Congress suffered a historic defeat as BJP registered a landslide victory with a mandate of 353 seats in Lok Sabha, its highest tally ever.

‘Maut Ka Saudagar’: When Sonia Gandhi’s fiercest attack fell flat

Ahead of the 2007 Assembly elections in Gujarat, Congress appeared set for an easy victory over the BJP. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, campaigning for the Congress, addressed a rally and led a fierce attack against Modi, then CM, over the Gujarat riots of 2002. She referred to Modi as “Maut Ka Saudagar” (Merchant of Death).

Modi weaponised the attack against him and turned it around against the Congress to suggest that the party was shielding the perpetrators of the Parliament attack. The results left political pundits aghast as the BJP went on to win 117 of the 182 seats in the Gujarat Assembly.