After Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Congress party in Parliament for doing divisive politics and fueling regional divides, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has raked up PM Modi’s OBC ‘caste status’ in a fresh attack. Rahul Gandhi while speaking at Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Thursday (8th February) accused PM Modi of lying about his caste.
The Congress prince claimed PM Modi was born into a general caste and not the Other Backword Category.
“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…This man is lying before the whole world that he is OBC Do you know how I know this? I don’t need a birth certificate…He never hugs any OBC person. He never holds the hands of farmers and labourers. He only holds the hand of [Gautam] Adani ji. 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,” Gandhi said.
“Modi Ji said that there are only two castes in this country, the rich and the poor (Ameer aur Gareeb). If there are only two castes then to which caste does he belong? He cannot be Gareeb, since he wears attires costing lakhs of rupees. And then he lies that he comes from the OBC community. Narendra Modi was not born OBC. Narendra Modi was born in the general caste and the BJP government made his caste OBC in Gujarat. On my phone, it is written that…Modiji is from the Modh-Ghanchi caste which was included in the OBC list in 2000. He is fooling the people of backward classes…” Rahul Gandhi added in his vicious attack on PM Modi.
Rahul Gandhi’s claim about PM Modi’s OBC caste is being amplified by the ‘ecosystem’ and since the Gandhi prince’s word is considered universal truth in the Congress ecosystem it warrants delving into the veracity of his claims.
Did Narendra Modi include his own caste in the OBC caste list?
Rahul Gandhi claimed that PM Modi was born into Teli ‘upper caste’ Modh Ghanchi family and is not from the OBC community as he claims and his party’s government included his caste as OBC in 2000. It is interesting to note that Gandhi very shrewdly twisted the facts here.
On July 25, 1994, the Gujarat Government’s Social Welfare Department issued a resolution: SSP/1194/1411/A dated 25/07/1994 classifying 36 castes as OBCs, including Narendra Modi’s Modh-Ghanchi caste at number 25(b). The caste has been classified among the OBCs. Now the interesting thing to note here is that in 1994, it was a Congress government in Gujarat led by then CM Chhabildas Mehta. It was during the Congress government that 36 castes including Modi’s Modh Ghanchi caste were classified as OBC, however, Rahul Gandhi either deliberately did not mention this or his darbaris did not provide him with complete information.
It should be recalled that reservations for OBCs were first provided during the VP Singh government, following the Mandal Commission report. Previously, only SC and STs were eligible for reservation. The trend of incorporating other castes in the OBC began after the Mandal Commission report was accepted. As a result, various states identified OBC castes and added them to the list course of the 1990s, with PM Modi’s caste Modh Ghanchi being one of the castes listed as OBC in Gujarat in 1994.
It is pertinent to note here that in the year 2000, the central government recognised Teli Sahu and Teli Rathod as synonymous with Teli and Ghanchi. According to administration officials, state governments have traditionally translated Union government orders on caste inclusion or exclusion.
Consequently, the central government’s OBC list was translated into Gujarati and issued by an order dated 1st January 2002, when PM Modi happened to be Gujarat’s chief minister. The order, dated 1st January 2002, includes Telis, Modh Ghanchis, and Muslim Ghanchis on the state’s OBC list.
While the 2000 central government order declared Teli Sahu and Teli Rathod as synonymous with Teli and Ghanchi, the inclusion of Modhi Ghanchi caste as OBC was notified back in 1994 when Congress was in power both in Gujarat and at the Centre. Thus, making it clear that Narendra Modi had no role in the inclusion or exclusion of any caste in the OBC list and that Rahul Gandhi is lying and misleading the people.
Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi has several times said that if Congress comes to power in the coming Lok Sabha elections it would conduct a nationwide caste census. Gandhi in December last year claimed that caste-related statistics were recorded during the 2010-11 census. The Congress government remained in power until 2014. However, the census data was released in 2011. This raised questions if Congress feared losing its vote bank.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that Prime Minister Modi has been targeted for his caste background. Back in 2014, Congress leader Shaktisingh Gohil had attacked Modi, the then NDA prime ministerial candidate over his caste making similar assertions as Rahul Gandhi is making now. However, the public had rejected Congress caste attacks on Narendra Modi and gave a historic mandate in favour of the National Democratic Alliance.
Last year, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge had also accused PM Modi of being a ‘fake OBC’. Over the years, a lot has changed, for example Rahul Gandhi who once said that those who go temple tease girls, himself ‘transformed’ into a ‘Tapasvi’ Januedhari Dattrtreya gotri Brahmin and visits temple during elections. However, the usual divisive approach of Congress and its leaders has remained unchanged.