Bhubaneswar: Continuing his tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Odisha, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit out at the PM for lying about his caste to the nation.
“PM Modi was not born in the OBC category as told in Parliament. He hails from the Teli caste, which was classified as a general caste at the time of his birth. In 2000, the BJP government in Gujarat included his caste in OBC category,” he told a gathering in Jharsuguda.
Rahul further said that he will not allow caste census to be conducted in his entire life because he was not born in OBC. “Only Congress will do it,” he asserted.
This came days after the Prime Minister Modi, during an address in Parliament, accused the UPA government of not delivering justice with OBCs. “A few days ago, Karpoori Thakur ji was conferred with Bharat Ratna. In 1970, when he became Bihar CM, what was not done to destabilise his government? Congress can’t tolerate OBCs…They keep counting how many OBCs are there in government. Can’t you (Congress) see the biggest OBC here (pointing towards himself)?” he had said.
The Gandhi scion further alleged that the prime minister does not shake hands with OBCs, but “hugs billionaires”. “He implemented GST and demonetization to help Adani and eliminate small businesses. Youths are not getting employment in Odisha and India.”
He also took a jibe at PM’s lifestyle. “While the Prime Minister’s monthly salary is Rs 1.60 lakh, Modi wears multiple new suits worth lakhs of rupees, daily. Who are funding these expenditures?”
Rahul also targeted the ruling BJD government in Odisha over its nexus with the BJP. “The only difference between BJP and BJD is of ‘P’ and ‘D’, the rest is all same. There is a conspiracy going on here in Odisha to steal the land of Adivasis and give it to industrialists,” he added.
The Odisha leg of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is scheduled to be completed this afternoon before going on a two-day break from February 9-10. The yatra will again resume on February 11 from Chhattisgarh.
