Rabri Devi says Priyanka should not have called Modi ‘Duryodhana’, uses harsher words

Former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, wife of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, gave a puzzling response when asked about Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Duryodhana.

What Rabri Devi said

Speaking to reporters in Hindi, she said Priyanka had been wrong to use the word Duryodhana and should have used different language. But she went on to call them executioners and alleged that judges and journalists had been killed or abducted, suggesting such a man’s thinking would be bloodthirsty. Her follow-up appeared to imply that she felt Priyanka’s language had been too mild rather than too harsh.

Priyanka’s remark

At a rally in Ambala, Haryana, on Tuesday, Priyanka hit back at Modi’s comments about her father, Rajiv Gandhi. She said the country had never forgiven arrogance, and that the Mahabharata showed this, recalling that Duryodhana had tried to capture Lord Krishna when Krishna came to reason with him. Several opposition leaders, along with Priyanka and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, have condemned Modi’s remark on Rajiv Gandhi, while Modi had dared the Congress to fight the election on Rajiv Gandhi’s image.

BJP response

BJP president Amit Shah responded at Bishnupur in West Bengal, saying nobody becomes Duryodhana merely because Priyanka calls them that in a democracy. “The nation will decide on May 23 who is Duryodhan and who is Arjun,” he said.

What happened next

Votes were counted on 23 May 2019; the BJP won 303 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats and the Congress 52, and Narendra Modi was sworn in for a second term on 30 May 2019.

See also: Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Originally published on 8 May 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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