Akhilesh Yadav doubles down on Rahul Gandhi's ‘Modi-OBC’ claim, says some only by certificate

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “misleading” people by identifying himself as an OBC.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday doubled down on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not born in an Other Backward Class (OBC) family.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (HT File Photo)

Insisting that he wasn't commenting on what Rahul Gandhi said about Prime Minister Modi, Akhilesh Yadav asserted that many people are OBC only by certificate and not by birth.

Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Modi was “misleading” people by identifying himself as an OBC.

Making a brief speech on the final day of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Odisha, Rahul Gandhi said Modi “was born in a family that belonged to the general caste”.

“Modi ji has been misleading the people by saying that he is an OBC. He was born in a family of the ‘Ghanchi’ caste, which was included in the OBC list during the BJP government's tenure in Gujarat in 2000,” he said.

“He changed his caste to OBC after becoming the CM of Gujarat. Therefore, Modi ji is not an OBC by birth,” the Congress MP asserted.

Read | Narendra Modi's caste notified as OBC before he became CM: BJP counters Rahul Gandhi

Gandhi had earlier in his address claimed that Modi belonged to the ‘Teli’ caste, but later clarified he meant the ‘Ghanchi’ caste.

When asked for his reaction on Gandhi's remarks, the SP chief told reporters, “I don't want to comment on what he (Rahul Gandhi) said. All I want to say is that some people are only backward by certificate, not by birth.”

Akhilesh Yadav is a key leader of the opposition INDIA bloc and is expected to join the Congress's yatra in Amethi or Raebareli.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, meanwhile, has rubbished Gandhi's claim as ‘blatant lie’.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya shared a gazette notification on X saying Prime Minister Modi's caste was notified as an OBC on Oct 27, 1999, two years before he became the chief minister of Gujarat.