National Commission for Backward Class, along with Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narhari Amin denounced the false claim made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against PM Narendra Modi, wherein the former, during one of his public meetings, questioned the OBC status of Prime Minister Modi and the caste to which he belongs.
In a strong rebuttal to the claim made by Rahul Gandhi, BJP leader Narhari Amin took to his social media handle X where he stated that he was serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat in the Congress Government when GoG notified Modh-Ghanchi as OBC on July 25, 1994. This is the same caste to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs to. He asked Rahul Gandhi to apologie for making such baseless comments and not indulge in defaming the OBC and PM Modi.
I was serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat in the Congress Government when GoG notified Modh-Ghanchi as OBC on 25th July 1994. This is the same caste our respected Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi belongs to. Mr. @RahulGandhi is insulting the OBC communities by
— Narhari Amin (@narhari_amin) February 8, 2024
The facts are crystal clear
The notification to include ‘Modh Ghanchi’ in the OBC list was released by the Gujarat Government on July 25, 1994. Before that, after a survey in Gujarat, even the Mandal Commission had prepared a list of OBCs under index 91(A), which included the Modh-Ghanchi caste in it.
There are 104 castes/communities in the Central List of OBCs for the State of Gujarat including ‘Modh-Ghanchi’ caste. National Commission for Backward Classes tendered advice to Union Government on 15.11.1997 for inclusion of Modh-Ghanchi in the Central List of OBCs for the State of Gujarat and Gazette Notification for the same was issued on 27.10.1999. The Advice of the National Commission for Backward Classes for inclusion of Modh-Ghanchi in the Central List of OBCs for the State of Gujarat was ordinarily binding on the Union Government.
It must be noted that when both of these decisions were taken, Narendra Modi held no legislative or executive position.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Backward Class hit back, saying that “It is appalling to see the hatred for OBCs that Rahul Gandhi Ji has, something he has clearly inherited from his ancestors. On the floor of the Parliament, Prime Minister Modi exposed the anti-reservation attitude of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The remarks of Rajiv Gandhi on the floor of the Parliament opposing Mandal Commission are well known. The Congress under Sonia and Rahul Gandhi did not even want to constitutional status to National Commission for Backward Classes. Modi Government has given constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes.
Click here to download the detailed notification
Today, the Congress and Rahul Gandhi are humiliating the suffering of crores of OBCs and trying to sow the seeds of division.
Earlier in the day, the government issued a detailed response on Thursday, February 8, to Congress Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not born into an Other Backward Class (OBC) community. Rahul Gandhi, during his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in Odisha, accused PM Modi of misleading the public by identifying himself as an OBC member, claiming that he was born into the Ghanchi caste, which was included in the OBC list during the BJP government’s tenure in Gujarat.
The government emphasised that another notification on April 4, 2000, under a Congress-led administration, reiterated the inclusion of the Modh Ghanchi caste in the OBC list. It pointed out that during both notifications, PM Modi was not in power and did not hold an executive office.
Click here to download the complete document that mentions that Narendra Modi’s caste was notified as an OBC on October 27, 1999, a full two years before he became the Chief minister of Gujarat
Rahul Gandhi’s comments on PM Modi’s caste add to the ongoing debate over a national caste census, with the opposition pushing for its implementation. The BJP, historically averse to the idea, has faced increased pressure following revelations from Bihar’s statewide caste survey, confirming that OBCs and Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) account for over 60% of the state’s population.
