Lucknow : A day after Rahul Gandhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not belong to the Other Backward Caste (OBC) community by birth and he has lied to the country, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Friday said that the Congress MP is insulting the mandate of the nation. The state Deputy Chief Minister said that the Congress leader has developed a phobia of PM Modi.
"Rahul Gandhi has developed a phobia of PM Narendra Modi. He always uses offensive language against PM Modi. All the surveys which are coming out clearly say that PM Modi will form the government for the third time. This is his frustration, and he is insulting the mandate of the country. This is not an insult of Narendra Modi, this is an outright humiliation of the backward communities of our country," he said.
Earlier on Thursday, the Wayanad MP during the Odisha leg of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra courted controversy by saying that PM Modi was born in a general category, a remark which drew criticism from the entire Bharatiya Janata Party.
"Whenever BJP workers come to you, tell them one thing that 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," he said while addressing a gathering in Odisha's Jharsuguda.
This came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently in Parliament called himself 'sabse bada OBC' (the biggest OBC) and accused the Congress of indulging in hypocrisy and adopting double standards while dealing with leaders of Backward communities.
"Congress party and UPA government did not deliver justice with 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.
PM Modi continued his attack on the UPA government and said that the previous government did not deliver justice to OBCs.
"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," PM had added.