'Blatant lie': BJP on Rahul Gandhi's OBC charge against PM Modi

New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday rubbished as "blatant lie" Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi got his caste included in the list of Other Backward Classes in Gujarat when he was the state's chief minister.

Gandhi with his remarks has hurt every member of the OBC community and those who look up to Prime Minister Modi as their idol, the party said and added that they will give the Congress a befitting reply in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

In his speech in Odisha, Gandhi claimed that Modi was not born in an OBC family and is misleading people by identifying himself as an OBC.

"Modi ji has been misleading the people by saying that he is an OBC... He changed his caste to OBC after becoming the CM of Gujarat. Therefore, Modi ji is not an OBC by birth," the Congress MP from Wayanad alleged.

BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said Gandhi's claim that Modi got his caste notified as an OBC after he became the chief minister of Gujarat is a "blatant lie".

"This is a blatant lie. PM Narendra Modi's caste was notified as an OBC on Oct 27, 1999, a full two years before he became the Chief Minister of Gujarat," Malviya posted on X and shared the weblink of the official notification.

"The entire Nehru-Gandhi family, starting from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rahul Gandhi, have been against OBCs," he said.

Malviya said the OBC status first came into effect in India in 1992 after "the Supreme Court in the Indira Swahney judgement that year upheld the government 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, he said.

BJP Rajya Sabha member Narhari Amin said he was the deputy chief minister of Gujarat when the Congress government in the state had notified "Modh-Ghanchi as OBC on July 25, 1994". Amin is a former Congress leader.

"This is the same caste our prime minister, Narendra Modi, belongs to. Rahul Gandhi is insulting OBC communities by cooking up mindless lies on this issue. This decision, and the subsequent government of India notification came when Narendra Modi was not even an MP or MLA, forget being chief minister," Amin wrote on X.

The BJP MP demanded that Gandhi "immediately withdraw his lies". "He should stop defaming OBCs and also apologise to the people of Gujarat for being filled with hate towards our popular prime minister, Narendra Modi," he said.

Lashing out at Gandhi, the MP said that "a person, who does not even know his 'gotra (lineage)', is today giving (an) OBC certificate to the prime minister born in a poor family and Teli community".

"If this is not an insult to all socially backward people, then what is?" he asked.

BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, "When Rahul Gandhi and Congress leaders abuse Prime Minister Modi, they try to insult him. But the reality is that they hurt every such person who comes from the OBC community and also those who consider Modi like a father and an idol."

People who have "stolen the surname of Mahatma Gandhi are commenting against Prime Minister Modi, whose personality is as tall as Himalayan peaks. Then people will give them a firm reply", he added.

In an apparent reference to the prime minister's recent speech in Parliament, Bhatia said Modi has "exposed" the Congress and its mindset against the people belonging to OBCs and other reserved categories.

"If at all anyone has worked for OBCs, it's Modi ji," the BJP leader said, adding that the OBC commission was given constitutional status under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.

"Modi ensured participation of more than 28 ministers belonging to backward society and the OBC communities. Our 100 MPs come from backward society and the OBC. It is is a big thing. This is the far-sightedness and thoughts of all inclusive Narendra Modi ji,” the BJP leader added.

BJP Rajya Sabha member Rakesh Sinha also slammed Gandhi for his remarks and said the Congress leader is taking the discourse to the "worst level". He has become a symbol of the "worst of politics", Sinha said.

"Prime Minister Modi is the leader of the people who are marginalised in the country which includes tribals, dalits and the OBCs," he told PTI at Parliament complex.

"The opportunity and facilities that they are getting today is visible in the 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra' (of the Modi government). Even those belonging to the Muslim community are realising that the Modi government is turning the 'sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka prayas' slogan into reality," he added.