‘Not by birth, but OBC on papers’: Rahul Gandhi hits back at BJP over PM Modi’s caste

NEW DELHI: Amid a war of words between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s caste, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday claimed that the PM belongs to the Other Backward Community (OBC) only ‘on papers’.

In a post on ‘X’, Gandhi wrote, “Modiji (PM Narendra Modi) is not by birth, but an OBC only on papers. He was not an OBC until five decades after his birth. Thanks to the BJP government for confirming this truth of mine”.

Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attracted sharp reactions from the BJP leaders after he claimed that Prime Minister Modi is not part of the Other Backward Caste (OBC) community and he belongs to the general category.

Addressing a public rally during the Odisha leg of the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra here, the Wayanad MP said, “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.”

#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

The BJP, meanwhile, refuted the claims, saying that the Prime Minister got OBC status during the Congress’s regime in Gujarat in 1994.

The party’s IT cell head, Amit Malviya, shared an official document listing OBC categories from Gujarat dated October 27, 1999, asserting that Modi’s caste was officially recognized as OBC two years before he took over as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

“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 Nehru-Gandhi family, right from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rahul Gandhi, has consistently opposed OBCs. “The entire Nehru-Gandhi family, starting from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rahul Gandhi, have been against OBCs,” he added. (ANI)