The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who earlier today alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not born in the OBC (Other Backward Class) category and added that the PM was born in the Teli caste in Gujarat, a general caste at that time.
Gandhi said the community was given the tag of the OBC category in the year 2000 by the BJP. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra said, "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 entire life because he was not born in OBC, he was born in General caste..."
However, BJP's National Information & Technology Department in-charge Amit Malviya refuted all the claims by Rahul Gandhi and hit back saying, 'The entire Nehru-Gandhi family, starting from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rahul Gandhi, have been against OBCs.'
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'Cooking up mindless lies'
Narhari Amin, a Rajya Sabha member and former Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat in the Congress government, strongly rebuked Rahul Gandhi's statements. Amin said, "I was serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat in the Congress Government when GoG notified Modh-Ghanchi as OBC on 25th July 1994. This is the same caste our respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi belongs to."
He further criticised Rahul Gandhi for spreading what he called "mindless lies." He asserted that the decision to grant OBC status to Modi's caste occurred when Modi was not even an MP/MLA, let alone the Chief Minister. "I demand Shri Rahul Gandhi immediately withdraw his lies. He should stop defaming OBCs and also apologize to the people of Gujarat for being filled with hate towards our popular Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi," Amin added.
'PM not born OBC'
Rahul Gandhi had alleged that PM Modi used to say that he is an OBC but when the demand for a caste census was made, he stated that there are only two castes — the rich and the poor. "When the time came to give rights to OBCs, Dalits, tribals, Modi ji says there are no castes, and when it is time to get votes, he says he is an OBC," Gandhi claimed.
Reiterating his party's pitch for a caste census, Gandhi said, "If Modi ji says there are only two castes - poor and rich - in the country, then how come he became an OBC... Modi ji was not born as an OBC. Modi ji's caste ghanchi was included in the OBC (list) in 2000 by the then BJP government in Gujarat. Your PM was not from the OBC. He keeps on identifying himself as OBC, but he was not an OBC, rather he was from the general category caste," he claimed while addressing a gathering at Rengalpali village in Chhattsigarh's Raigarh district during his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.'
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