Telangana: BJP sees red as Revanth claims Modi not backward class by birth

The BJP has taken strong exception to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s comment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not belong to backward classes (BC) by birth and that he is “anti-BC by mentality”.

While Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy said the remarks were unbecoming of a person holding the post of chief minister, Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar asked whether the CM knows the caste and religion of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

BJP challenges Revanth to public debate

In a statement, Kishan Reddy, the party president in Telangana, challenged the chief minister to a public debate on whether the PM belongs to BCs or not. According to him, Revanth Reddy was making such comments out of impatience, as the Congress was losing public support in the state and across the country.

Observing that Modi does not need the certificate of Revanth Reddy, the Union Minister said he can present a list of steps taken for the welfare of backward classes by the Modi government, including providing constitutional status of the BC commission, inclusion of 27 OBCs, 12 SCs, eight STs and five minority leaders in the Union Cabinet and provision of 27 per cent reservation for BCs in NEET.

Revanth claimed on Friday (February 14) that Modi’s caste was a “forward caste” before he became Gujarat chief minister. “Modi ji says he is BC. Actually, Modi ji is not BC. (He is) legally converted BC,” he said.

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BJP barb on Rahul’s caste

Kumar said Reddy talking about the PM’s caste is yet another desperate tactic to divert attention from the Congress’s promise to provide 42 per cent reservation to the BCs. Revanth Reddy’s “research failed so badly that he forgot the fact that Modi was listed as OBC when Congress was in power in 1994”, he said.

Asking what is Rahul Gandhi's caste, Kumar said Feroz Jehangir Gandhi is the grandfather of the former. “Now, what caste is Rahul Gandhi? What’s his religion? Does he know, or do you? His grandfather was Feroz Jehangir Gandhi. In Hindu tradition, caste follows the father’s lineage,” Kumar said in a post on X.

“If anyone wants to debate who is legally converted or not, maybe the CM should start from 10, Janpath,” he said.

Asserting that no amount of attention diversion will work, Kumar said the BJP stands firm in its stance of opposing the Telangana government providing reservation for Muslims in the BC category. Any such attempts will be foiled, he added.

Modi a legally converted BC: Revanth

Revanth made the claims on Friday while addressing a Congress event in Hyderabad. He also said the ruling Congress would announce a “battle against Modi if necessary”, as the Centre has not sanctioned permissions for projects such as the expansion of the Hyderabad Metro Rail.

Referring to the comments of some that Revanth Reddy would be the last Reddy Chief Minister of Telangana, he said he would not mind being the “last”.

Reddy, who spoke during a PowerPoint presentation on the caste survey conducted by the Congress government in the state and a Youth Congress meeting held at Telangana Congress headquarters in Hyderabad, claimed that Modi belonged to a “forward caste” before he became Gujarat chief minister.

“Modi ji says he is BC. Actually, Modi ji is not BC. (He is) a legally converted BC,” he said.

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Revanth’s logic

Modi made his community a part of the backward classes by making legislation after he became CM, Reddy alleged. “Though his (Modi) certificates may say he is BC, but his mentality is anti-BC,” he said.

If Modi belongs to backward classes, why was the general census not conducted in 2021 and why the population of BCs was not determined, he demanded to know.

Referring to allegations that the data of caste survey was faulty, he said the Centre should take up caste census as part of general census.

He alleged that the BRS and BJP were trying to find fault with the data of caste survey for selfish purposes. It is doing so because Rahul Gandhi, who has already attacked the NDA government in parliament for not conducting caste census all over the country, would mount further pressure, he said.

Revanth’s attack on BRS

The BRS, on the other hand, is trying to pick holes in the caste survey as it fears that backward classes would question its president K Chandrasekhar Rao over his family members having several posts during the BRS regime, he said.

It would be backward classes who suffer if the BC associations find fault with the data of the caste survey, he claimed.

The BCs can now seek hike in reservations, even in the Supreme Court, by presenting the data of caste survey, Reddy said.

There are no errors in the caste survey as the data is submitted by the concerned citizens, he said.

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BRS’s claim on caste survey

Talking about the state government’s decision to accept data from those who were left out of the caste survey conducted during November-December last year, he said a “social boycott from Telangana society” should be imposed on BRS president KCR and his family members if they don’t participate in the survey.

Reddy’s attack on the BRS and the BJP came as the regional party had alleged that the Congress government is backstabbing the BCs with the caste survey showing a decline in the population of backward classes.

While the population of BCs was 51 per cent as per an Intensive Household Survey conducted during the BRS regime, the caste survey shows it to be 46 per cent excluding backward Muslims, BRS leader KT Rama Rao had said.

(With agency inputs)