4 days ago
Last Updated:May 26, 2025, 13:41 IST
"We should be careful before speaking on any issue as it could be blown out of proportion in the age of social media", the Prime Minister is believed to have told at the NDA meet
(From left) Vijay Shah, PM Modi, Narendra Prajapati. (File/X)
At the Democratic Alliance (NDA) chief ministers’ conference on May 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi looked to tame every motormouth in the NDA, particularly in his own party, without taking names.
PM Modi advised that leaders should avoid speaking on every issue, said sources. Sources added that the Prime Minister, without quoting any specific example, strongly suggested they maintain “restraint" while speaking.
While the suggestions were meant for all NDA constituents, it wasn’t tough to gauge what triggered them — recent controversies where certain Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) motormouths embarrassed the party to the extent of escalation of the matter to the Supreme Court.
THE BACKGROUND
The Prime Minister’s statement came against the backdrop of BJP MP and Madhya Pradesh Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah’s derogatory remarks against Colonel Sofiya Qureshi – one of the two women who were the face of the Operation Sindoor press briefing. Speaking at a government function after Operation Sindoor, the Madhya Pradesh minister said, “Modi ji is striving for society. Those who widowed our daughters in Pahalgam, we sent a sister of their own to teach them a lesson."
The Madhya Pradesh High Court took suo motu cognisance of his “gutter language" and ordered the state’s Director General of Police to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) against him. The matter was escalated to the level of the Supreme Court, which constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of senior IPS officers and called his repeated apologies a “facade", bringing discomfort to the party at a time when this should not even have been a concern with the Indo-Pak conflict just being concluded.
Can Modi’s subtle warning silence him? Let’s look at his background for the answer.
WHO IS VIJAY SHAH?
In 2013, Shah made alleged sexist comments about Sadhna Singh Chouhan, the wife of then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He resigned after that comment. But Shah was soon back to square one.
In 2022, he raised questions about Rahul Gandhi being single at 55, and in 2018, Shah made disparaging remarks that made PM Modi uncomfortable, “Before him, all prime ministers were ghoda, ghada, and haathi chhaap. None of them cared for the poor."
THE NARENDRA PRAJAPATI GOOF-UP
Shah is not the only recent example. Narendra Prajapati, a first-time BJP MLA from Madhya Pradesh, claimed that India had stopped military strikes due to the United Nations intervention, a statement that was criticised as misleading and damaging to the party’s image. India has categorically stated that the shelling stopped after the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of Pakistan called his Indian counterpart, and the two countries reached an understanding. In other words, the BJP MLA countered the Modi government’s version and floated an outside pressure angle. When his video went viral and senior leaders questioned him, he blamed the “surge of emotions" and, most conveniently, the media for “presenting my statements in a distorted and doctored way".
THE KEY TAKEAWAY
Two resolutions – one lauding the armed forces and acknowledging PM Modi’s leadership of Operation Sindoor and the second, endorsing the Centre’s decision to hold a caste census – were passed at the meeting.
The key takeaway, however, was the Prime Minister’s suggestion of “restraint" to all NDA allies. “We should be careful before speaking on any issue as it could be blown out of proportion in the age of social media", the Prime Minister is believed to have told those inside.
But this is not the first time he has made such suggestions. In spite of that, BJP motormouths like Madhya Pradesh’s Pragya Singh Thakur, West Bengal’s Dilip Ghosh, and Karnataka’s Basanagouda Patil Yatnal continue to do what they are best known for, even at the cost of being sidelined or not getting a ticket.
The BJP, meanwhile, continues to make an example out of the habitual offenders for the new lot.
Location : First Published:News politics ‘Restraint In Times Of Social Media’: PM Modi Gave Keyword, But Can BJP Motormouths Stop Trending?
