Congress Calls Modi a 'Fake OBC', His Office Hits Back

New Delhi: The new political battle is over the caste of Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate. The Congress has alleged that Mr Modi is a "fake OBC." Mr Modi's office says the Congress has "selective amnesia combined with a pathological disdain for the marginalised sections of society."

The argument has been impelled by Mr Modi's accusation that the Congress' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra derided his background as a member of a lower caste by accusing him of "neech rajniti" or low politics earlier this week.

"It is not a crime to be lower caste," he has said at several rallies, also highlighting that his family was poor.

Mr Modi belongs to the Modh Ghanchi sub-caste, a community of oil-pressers. (Modi's 'Caste' Comeback for Priyanka's 'Neech Rajniti' Comment)

On Thursday, Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil alleged that a 2002 order of the Gujarat government showed Mr Modi had used his clout as Gujarat chief minister to get the Modh Ghanchis, who the Congressman called "rich and prosperous," included in the list of Other Backward Classes or OBCs.

Mr Modi's office swiftly responded to assert that Mr Modi's sub-caste was included in the list of OBCs much before he took over as Chief Minister of Gujarat and that the circular Mr Gohil has cited was just "a reinforcement of the GoI notification dated back to 2000." (Also Read: Sonia Gandhi Repeats "Neech Rajniti" Jibe at Narendra Modi)

It accused the Congress of making a "futile" and "malicious" attempt to "defame Narendra Modi" and said in a statement, "The notification to include this sub-caste into the OBC list was released by the Gujarat Government on 25th July 1994. It should be remembered that that time there was a Congress Government in power headed by Shri Chhabildas Mehta. The same sub-caste was included as OBC as per a GoI notification dated 4th April 2000. When both these notifications were released Shri Narendra Modi was nowhere in power nor was he holding any executive office at that time."

At rallies, Mr Modi has accused the Congress of sending people to his village to check if he indeed sold tea as a young boy, a detail that he has effectively woven in his pitch for Prime Minister. (If I Lose, I Have My Kettle Ready to Make Tea: Modi)