“Our PM isn’t born OBC…” Rahul Gandhi calls out Narendra Modi’s caste, BJP hits back

In a startling claim, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that PM Narendra Modi doesn’t belong to the Other Backward Caste (OBC), calling his self-proclamation of being an OBC Prime Minister a “blatant lie”. During the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Odisha leg, the Wayanad MP had hit out at the PM for not conducting a caste census.

“Modi ji has been misleading the people of India by calling himself an OBC. 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…” said Rahul Gandhi during the Yatra. This comes days after PM Modi on the floor of the Lok Sabha had identified himself as OBC during his response to ‘Motion of Thanks’ while slamming the opposition for playing caste and minority appeasement politics.

While asserting that PM belonged to the General category, Rahul Gandhi further alleged that PM Modi has an aversion towards shaking hands with people belonging to OBC. “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. Do you know how I got to know this? I do not need a birth certificate for it… He does not hug any OBC or does not hold the hands of farmers or labourers. He only holds the hands of Adani ji”, he added.

Rahul Gandhi while addressing the crowd raked up the lifestyle issue of the Prime Minister, questioning if the PM can maintain his lifestyle with his salary and pointing out his association with the rich and mighty. “The Prime Minister earns a salary of 1 lakh 60 thousand rupees every month. How can he change suits three times in a day?” said Gandhi.  Speaking on the prices of each suit, the Congress leader said, “In the morning, he would wear a suit of 2-3 lakhs… in the afternoon, he would wear a new suit and shoes, worth 3-4 lakhs… in the evening he would wear suits and shawls worth 4-5 lakhs… in a day that is 7-8 lakhs… how can he afford 2-3 crores worth of suits in a month with a salary of 1.6 lakhs? This money comes from your pockets.”

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Amit Malviya, the BJP IT Cell Chief was quick to hit back at Rahul Gandhi, calling him a “liar.” “OBC status first came into effect in India in 1992, after the Supreme Court, in the Indira Sawhney judgement that year, upheld the Govt order issued in 1990, that caste was an acceptable indicator of backwardness. Hence, it was not possible for any caste to be included in the OBC category before 1992. Rahul Gandhi is a liar,” asserted Malviya. He further sharpened his attack at the grand old party and stated that Rahul Gandhi’s comment shows “his deep seated hatred for the backward and underprivileged.” “According to Rahul Gandhi no one born before 1992, when OBC status came into effect, was backward! This is a huge insult to those who struggled and fought against decades of social injustice. It is such an asinine comment to make. This shows that Rahul Gandhi referring to all with Modi surname ‘chor’ wasn’t an aberration, but his deep seated hatred for the backward and underprivileged,” added the BJP IT Cell Chief.