During his visit to Varanasi on Thursday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav made an indirect remark on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that PM Modi was not an OBC by birth but his caste was included in the OBC list during the Bharatiya Janata Party government’s tenure in Gujarat.
“All I want to say is that some people are only backwards by certificate, not by birth,” said Yadav while interacting with reporters on Thursday. However, he avoided mentioning Gandhi or PM Modi in his statement.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had targeted PM Modi for his caste at one of his public rallies in Odisha during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
“Whenever BJP workers come to you, tell them one thing. 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,” said Wayanad MP on Thursday.
Akhilesh Yadav also commented on the district court’s order on the Gyanvapi case, after which the Hindu side offered prayer inside the Gyanvapi mosque.
“All of us are bound by the Constitution… The Consitution gives us the rights. The government does trickery… Can we snatch anyone’s rights? If any court gives any order, does that mean that our rights would be snatched away? The Constitution gives us the right to present ourselves. I hope that the court will do justice in the coming times,” Yadav told media persons on Thursday.
The Allahabad High Court is hearing the petition filed by the Muslim side in the Gyanvapi case. The next hearing is set to take place on February 12.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders are targetting the government on things said by PM Modi in his Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha speeches. In his Lok Sabha speech, PM Modi called himself ‘sabse bada OBC’ (the biggest OBC) and accused the Congress of opting for double standards while dealing with leaders of backward communities.
“The Congress party and the UPA government did not deliver justice to 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)?” PM Modi said in his reply to the ‘Motion of Thanks’ on the President’s Address in Lok Sabha on Monday.
In his speech, PM Modi also alleged that former prime minister the late Jawaharlal Nehru was also against reservation of any kind.
“Nehruji used to say that if SC, ST or OBCs get reservation in jobs, then government work standards will fall. He even stopped recruitment. What Nehruji said has been pathhar ki lakeer (‘set in stone’) for the Congress since. Your mindset can be understood through such examples,” PM Modi said in the Lok Sabha.
“During the UPA government, an extra-constitutional body was formed. The government could not have its way before that body. National Advisory Council – did it have any OBC members? Find out,” he added.
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