Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not born into an Other Backward Class family and was “misleading” people by identifying as an OBC. Rahul Gandhi, in a brief address at Jharsuguda on the third and last day of his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in Odisha, claimed Modi “was born in a family that belonged to the general caste”.
“Modi ji has been misleading the people by saying that he is an OBC. He was born in a family of the Teli caste, which was included in the OBC list during the BJP government’s tenure in Gujarat in 2000. Therefore, Modi ji is not an OBC by birth,” the Congress MP claimed.
“Whenever BJP workers come to you, tell them one thing that 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 Gandhi added.
This came after Modi called himself “sabse bada OBC” in Parliament. He also accused the Congress of hypocrisy and employing double standards in its treatment of leaders from Backward communities.
Replying to the ‘Motion of Thanks’ on the President’s Address in0 Lok Sabha on Monday, Modi said, “The 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? The 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)?”
Attacking the previous UPA governments for not delivering 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.”
On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi accused the Modi government and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s administration of “running a partnership” to steal the state’s people. He said that the Congress was opposed to the cooperation. He stated, “In Parliament, [Odisha’s governing] BJD [Biju Janata Dal] backs the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party]. The BJD members disrupt us at the request of the BJP.”
The Odisha portion of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is scheduled to end Thursday afternoon, after a two-day break from February 9 to 10. The voyage will resume on February 11 from Chhattisgarh.
The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which begins in Manipur’s Thoubal on January 14, will cover 6,700 miles in 67 days and visit 110 districts. It is scheduled to conclude in Mumbai on March 20, after 67 days.
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