Maharashtra: BJP workers protest in Latur against Rahul Gandhi's 'Modi not OBC' remarks

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Party workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s youth wing on Friday staged a protest in central Maharashtra's Latur district against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his 'Modi not OBC' remarks, reported the PTI.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had reportedly made remarks questioning the OBC status of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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A large number of protesters from the BJP's Yuva Morcha gathered at Mahatma Gandhi Chowk in Latur city and vented their anger at an effigy of the Lok Sabha MP from Kerala.

Rahul Gandhi, who is on Manipur to Mumbai Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, sparked a controversy on Thursday with his remarks that Modi was born into a family that belonged to the general caste and not into an Other Backward Class (OBC) community.

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

Rahul Gandhi's comments triggered angry reactions from the BJP.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP leader Ashish Deshmukh had on Thursday said that the party will hold protests across the state against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for the latter's remark that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not born in an OBC family, reported the PTI.

PM Modi was born in a family that belonged to the general caste and he was 'misleading' people by identifying himself as part of the Other Backward Classes, Rahul Gandhi had reportedly claimed in Odisha and Chhattisgarh during his ongoing 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', according to the PTI.

"Rahul Gandhi's statement is an insult to the entire OBC community," Ashish Deshmukh, who is the chief of the Maharshtra unit of the BJP OBC Morcha, said in a press conference in Nagpur.

"The Maharashtra BJP OBC Morcha will stage an agitation at Sanvidhan Square here and in all talukas and districts of the state at 11 am on Friday," he said.

(with PTI inputs)