Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrives at Surat District Court for hearing of a criminal defamation case filed against him over his alleged ‘Modi surname’ remark, in Surat on March 23.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Hours before the Lok Sabha secretariat notified the disqualification of Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi as member, following his conviction by a Surat court in a case of criminal defamation, BJP president J.P. Nadda launched a strong attack on him, stating that Mr. Gandhi, by his remarks on the Modi surname (the reason he was sued) had shown a “pathetic and casteist mindset” towards members of the OBC community. Mr. Nadda’s statement, made over Twitter, has made it clear that the BJP has decided to launch an all out attack on Mr. Gandhi, with no quarters given, and to also connect the surname slur to a larger OBC community.
Mr. Gandhi was convicted after he was sued by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi over his statement, “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname” and was sentenced to two years in jail (the sentence has been suspended for 30 days).
In fact, on Thursday evening, functionaries of the All India Teli Mahasangh, many of whom carry the “Modi” surname, said in a statement that Mr. Gandhi owed an apology to the community and that he had “started abusing people” after losing polls. If that wasn’t enough, Rajya Sabha MP K. Laxman, who also heads the BJP’s OBC Morcha has announced that the campaign that the OBC Morcha had planned to reach out to marginalised communities will also include Mr. Gandhi and his reported slur against the OBC community, many of whom hold the Modi surname. “The programme is scheduled to begin on April 6, the BJP’s foundation day and will conclude on April 14 which is Ambedkar Jayanti, with April 11 being the Jayanti of Mahatma Jotiba Phule. We aim at reaching one lakh villages and one crore households with this,” he said, speaking to The Hindu.
It is apparent that the BJP has decided to take advantage of this issue, to overturn some of the narrative that the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar have been trying to establish over the Ram Charitramanas and its selected “chaupais” or verses that had pejorative references to marginalised classes. This was another attempt to revive the Mandal Vs Kamandal (saffron politics) fissure of heartland politics. “With this remark Rahul Gandhi has scored a self goal. The BJP is the one defending the honour of OBC communities against the slurs aimed at them. Opposition parties finding common cause with Congress and Rahul Gandhi over the disqualification should explain whether they agree with the ‘all thieves have Modi surname’ statement of the latter,” said a senior BJP leader.
In a series of tweets, Mr. Nadda, who had remained out of the fray on Thursday, said, “by comparing OBC communities to thieves, Mr. Rahul Gandhi has shown a pathetic and casteist mindset, however his latest tirade is not surprising. For the last many years he has reduced the level of political discourse.”
“Now, Mr. Gandhi calls the entire OBC community thieves, he gets flak in the Courts but refuses to apologise thus showing how deep rooted his hatred for OBCs is. The people of India did not forgive him in 2019, in 20124 the punishment will be more severe,” he said.
In Varanasi, CM Yogi Adityanath too spoke on the same lines in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was there for a function related to eradication of Tuberculosis. Mr. Adityanath said that Mr. Gandhi must apologise for making “insulting remarks” on backwards, poor and Dalits.
