Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Nitin Nabin on Thursday (September 17, 2026) targeted the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his party’s criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday celebrations, including the lighting more than 25 lakh diyas (earthen lamps) in Ujjain at an event organised by the Madhya Pradesh government.
In the ‘Ashirwad ka Diya’ (lamp of blessings) event, 33.27 lakh earthen lamps were lit in Ujjain on the occasion of Mr. Modi’s birthday. The State government claimed the city had created a world record.
Mr. Nabin made the remarks in Indore on his first visit to Madhya Pradesh since taking over as the BJP president, two days before Mr. Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ (echo of students) campaign event in the city. Mr. Nabin also launched the ‘Swamitva Adhikar Abhilekh Nispadan Evam Panjiyan Yojana 2026’ (execution and registration of ownership rights record scheme). Under the scheme, the State government is championing the free registry of properties in rural areas for a month.
The saffron party is celebrating Mr. Modi’s 76th birthday as ‘Seva Sankalp Divas’ (service resolution day), and has launched a month-long campaign to mark his 25 years in public life, with BJP governments at the Centre and in States organising various events.
“Many of our Opposition colleagues ask why we call this day ‘seva divas’ (service day). My friends in the Opposition, you only did politics while we worked to unite and further the progress of society,” Mr. Nabin said. Opposition leaders “cannot understand the meaning of service”, he said.
“When 80 crore families of the country receive free rations, when in a calamity like corona (the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic), the one who banded the entire country together and gave over 200 crore doses of free vaccine, the one who provided toilets to 12 crore families, connected the poor to banking services, and gave them the opportunity to live with dignity — if we do not celebrate his (Mr. Modi’s) birthday as seva divas, then Rahul baba (referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi), will we celebrate your birthday as seva divas?” Mr. Nabin said.
Mr. Nabin also took at jibe at Mr. Gandhi’s upcoming event. “People are talking about youths these days. During your time, did you ever think of giving loans to 57 crore youths? Your ancestors gave this country only a divisive mindset. India was forced into Partition and today, when the country is ready to move forward united, you are restless,” Mr. Nabin said.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Gandhi took to social media platform X and slammed Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, while calling the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh the “most corrupt and most incompetent” regime in the country.
Raising the issue of the death of tribal children in Balaghat district, Mr. Gandhi criticised the Madhya Pradesh government for organising the event, held on the banks of Shipra river in Ujjain, to light more than 25 lakh earthen lamps for Mr. Modi’s birthday.
“In Balaghat, more than 30 tribal children have died amid illness, malnutrition, and a lack of basic health facilities. The extent of the callousness is such that innocent children kept dying, yet the response remained sluggish, and the government stayed asleep. Mr. Chief Minister, if you’ve found time after lighting lamps and celebrating festivals, take a look at the ground reality in the State,” Mr. Gandhi said. Children were dying because of “lack of disease control, nutrition, clean water, and a crumbling health system”, he added.
“Adulterated medicines and poisonous illegal liquor are devastating hundreds of families. I am heading to Indore and am continuously gathering feedback from students, youth, and common people across the State. The horrific incidents coming to light are revealing that Madhya Pradesh’s education system is today the most ruined in the entire country. Students, children, the poor, Dalits, tribals, backward classes, or women — every section is being tormented, no one is happy,” the Congress leader said.
“The Madhya Pradesh government is today India’s most corrupt and most incompetent government — that is the truth,” Mr. Gandhi alleged. Meanwhile, Mr. Nabin also slammed the Opposition for criticising the vegetarian menu served at the recently held BRICS Summit in New Delhi.
“Recently, the grand BRICS Summit took place. The eyes of the entire world were fixed on Delhi. The world’s powerful nations are ready to march step in step with India. But our Opposition could only see the menu in it. They got stuck on the food recipes. They couldn’t see that the world’s most powerful countries come together to plant trees and deliver a message to the entire world. Their (the Opposition’s) thinking is ‘self first’,” the BJP president said.
Published – September 17, 2026 10:29 pm IST
