A new political controversy has started with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claim regarding the caste of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Earlier during the Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra in Odisha, Rahul Gandhi claimed that PM Modi’s statement that he is OBC by birth is wrong.
BJP took Rahul’s statement to task and retaliated by saying that during the Congress government in Gujarat, PM Modi’s caste was included in OBC.
Now Rahul Gandhi has taken a dig at this reaction of BJP. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi thanked BJP for confirming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not born in an Other Backward Class family, as he had claimed earlier in the day.
Delivering a brief speech here on the third and concluding day of his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in Odisha, Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was born in a family which belonged to the general caste.
He said, “Modi ji is misleading people by saying that he is OBC. He was born in a family of ‘Ghanchi’ caste, which was included in the OBC list in 2000 during the tenure of the BJP government in Gujarat. After becoming the CM of Gujarat, he changed his caste to OBC. Therefore, Modi ji is not an OBC by birth.” On the other hand, after Rahul Gandhi’s statement, Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and Dharmendra Pradhan alleged that he was spreading lies on this issue.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is from Odisha, also responded to Gandhi’s statement, “The truth is that Modi’s OBC status was recognized on October 27, 1999, two years before he became the Chief Minister of Gujarat. “Congress has once again insulted the OBC community, but OBCs will give a great lesson in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.”
Former partner also called Rahul Gandhi a liar
Rahul Gandhi’s statement regarding PM Modi’s caste has also been taken to task by his former colleague.
Narhari Amin, currently BJP MP from Rajya Sabha from Gujarat quota, wrote on X that the Congress-led Gujarat government had notified Modi-Ghanchi as OBC in July 1994. At that time I was the Deputy CM in the Congress government of Gujarat.
Rahul took a dig at BJP’s reply
Soon after, Rahul Gandhi also took to social media and said, “Modi ji is not by birth but a ‘paper OBC’.
He was not an OBC until five decades after his birth. Thanks to the BJP government for confirming my truth.”