The Congress party has launched a no-holds-barred attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called him “a habitual liar,” a development that denotes that the Congress is shifting its strategy toward the man who single-handedly decimated the 129-year-old party in the general elections less than five months ago and becoming more belligerent.

The latest flashpoint between the Congress party and Modi may have far-reaching political impact in near future if the Congress counter to Modi’s allegations against its top leadership is found to be valid by a constitutional body like the Election Commission. From all available indications, it looks like Modi has bitten more than he could chew and he may well be in for a major embarrassment, if nothing else.

On Oct. 6, Modi, while addressing election rallies in Hissar and Faridabad in the poll-bound Haryana had leveled serious corruption charges against not only the Congress-ruled Haryana but also against the party’s top leaders. He said the state government of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had cleared a land deal between real estate firm DLF and Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, “during the election process.”

On Oct. 7, the Congress came back very strongly and took the political battle right to Modi’s doorstep, as the party’s general secretary in-charge of Haryana, Shakeel Ahmed, knocked the very bottom of Modi’s claim by giving specific dates in a bid to show Modi had got it all wrong.

Ahmed called Modi “a habitual liar” and said the land deal in question was cleared with all due legal process on July 16 this year when elections in Haryana had not been announced. Haryana is having assembly polls, along with Maharashtra, on Oct. 15. Ahmed pointed out that the Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct came into force from Sept. 12, thus proving that there was no violation of the poll conduct.

Moreover, Ahmed also cited a recent Supreme Court ruling on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Robert Vadra case, which was eventually dismissed as withdrawn after the apex court had observed thus: “In the name of PIL, we will not allow you to destroy the name of a person merely because someone (read Vadra) is linked to a politician. He cannot be called a sinner.”

Chief Minister Hooda himself has trashed Modi’s allegation and said he would quit politics if Modi could prove that even an inch of government land was involved in the alleged land deal. Straws in the wind suggest that the Congress party is right and PM Modi has jumped the gun, though one cannot say whether he has done it deliberately with an eye on wresting power from the Congress in Haryana or whether he has been led up the garden path by his aides.

The ball is in the court of the Election Commission now and Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer Shrikant Walgad has summoned a recording of Modi’s speech. The Election Commission may announce its verdict before Haryana goes to polls on Oct. 15.

Whatever the verdict is, it will not threaten the Modi government even if the Election Commission were to determine in favor of the Congress party and against Modi. But if the Election Commission finds Modi’s public comments factually incorrect, it would inevitably bolster the Congress party. In fact the opposition party may even move the Supreme Court in case of a favorable ruling from the Election Commission.

However, it is too early to gauge the possible political fallout of remarks made by Modi at election rallies. But this episode is politically significant in many ways.

One, it shows that a premier has lost the main opposition party’s confidence so early in his tenure and that opposition party (Congress) has got so much emboldened that it has dared to describe the prime minister as “a habitual liar” at a press conference. This only denotes that the coming months are set to be even more turbulent for Indian politics.

Two, it shows that this realization is yet to sink in for Modi that he is no longer a prime ministerial candidate in the middle of election campaign; rather he is the prime minister who is campaigning for his party. Therefore, he needs to be infinitely more cautious in choosing his words and ensuring that he sticks to facts and facts alone.

It is high time that Indian politicians, cutting across the party lines, learn to be more mature and responsible.