Jharsuguda: In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that the former was not born into an OBC family but instead hails from the general caste. The Congress MP urged his followers to confront BJP workers with this revelation, accusing the Prime Minister of deceiving the nation regarding his caste identity.
“Whenever BJP workers come to you, tell them one thing our Prime Minister lied to the entire country that he belonged to the backward class. He was not born in a backward class, he belongs to the general caste. You tell this to every BJP worker.” Rahul made these remarks while speaking at a public rally during the Odisha leg of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Jharsuguda.
#WATCH | Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says, “PM Modi was not born in the OBC category. He was born Teli caste in Gujarat. The community was given the tag of OBC in the year 2000 by the BJP. He was born in the General caste…He will not allow caste census to be conducted in his… pic.twitter.com/AOynLpEZkK
— ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2024
Rahul Gandhi’s remark on PM Modi evoked a sharp response from the ruling BJP and its media cell in-charge Amit Malviya called Congress MP’s claim a ”blatant lie.” ”Prime Minister Narendra Modi got his caste notified as an OBC after he became the Chief Minister of Gujarat: Rahul Gandhi. This is a blatant lie. PM Narendra Modi’s caste was notified as an OBC on Oct 27, 1999, a full 2 years BEFORE he became the Chief Minister of Gujarat,” Malviya said in a post on X. Malviya also claimed that the ”entire Nehru-Gandhi family, starting from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rahul Gandhi, have been against the OBCs.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi got his caste notified as an OBC after he became the Chief Minister of Gujarat: Rahul Gandhi.
This is a blatant lie. PM Narendra Modi’s caste was notified as an OBC on Oct 27, 1999, a full 2 years BEFORE he became the Chief Minister of Gujarat.… pic.twitter.com/lDU3uJrHwJ
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) February 8, 2024
Congress Vs BJP Over OBC
This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently in Parliament called himself ‘Sabse Bada OBC’ (the biggest OBC) and accused the Congress of indulging in hypocrisy and adopting double standards while dealing with leaders of Backward communities.
“Congress party and UPA government did not deliver justice with OBCs. A few days ago, Karpoori Thakur ji was conferred with Bharat Ratna. In 1970, when he became Bihar CM, what was not done to destabilise his government? Congress can’t tolerate OBCs…They keep counting how many OBCs are there in the government. Can’t you (Congress) see the biggest OBC here (pointing towards himself)?” PM Modi said in his reply to the ‘Motion of Thanks’ on the President’s Address in Lok Sabha on Monday.
Congress’ Failures And Allegations Of Bias
PM Modi continued his attack on the UPA government and said that the previous government did not deliver justice to OBCs. “During the UPA Government, an extra-constitutional body was formed. The government could not have its way before that body. National Advisory Council – did it have any OBC members? Find out,” he added.
Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra
The Odisha leg of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is scheduled to be completed this afternoon before going on a two-day break from February 9-10. The yatra will resume on February 11 from Chhattisgarh. Earlier on Wednesday, the 25th day of the Nyay Yatra, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, visited Vedvyas Dham in the Sundergarh district of Western Odisha. The cave of this temple is considered to be the place where sage and poet Ved Vyas ji composed the Mahabharata.
Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra rolled out from Manipur’s Thoubal on January 14. The yatra will cover over 6,700 kilometres over 67 days, traversing through 110 districts. It will cover a distance of 6,713 km, straddling 100 Lok Sabha constituencies and 337 assembly segments and covering 110 districts. The yatra will conclude in Mumbai on March 20, after 67 days.
A follow-up to the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ which saw Rahul Gandhi cover more than 3,000 kilometres on foot–from Kanya Kumari to Srinagar–the Yatra 2.0 is following a hybrid format.