A day after Congress accused RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav of using casteist slur against the AICC in-charge of Bihar, Bhakt Charan Das, the Grand Old Party resorted to attacking PM Modi with casteist slurs.
In its social media campaign against PM Modi, the official Twitter account of All India Mahila Congress used #TeliKiMaar hashtag to mark their opposition to the rising fuel prices. Teli is an OBC community, predominantly residing in northern India and traditionally occupied in the pressing of oil.
Along with the patently casteist hashtag, the All India Mahila Congress shared an infographic saying the prices of edible oil have skyrocketed by 34 per cent in the month of September.
While the casteist slur made by the Congress unit involved Teli community, it is worth noting that PM Modi belongs to the Modh Ghanchi caste, another OBC community just like Teli, and has endured countless casteist attacks launched by the Congress party.
Congress’ repeated casteist attacks against PM Modi
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had taken digs at PM Modi’s humble beginnings and called him a ‘chaiwalla’. He had also referred to Modi as ‘neech insaan’ which got him suspended from Congress. Sanjay Nirupam, another serial abuse has often used derogatory terms to abuse PM Modi by referring to him as ‘illiterate and uncouth’.
PM Modi’s humble background has always been a point of criticism for Congress leaders. After senior Congress leader, CP Joshi’s cheap casteist slur against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders of the BJP, Uttar Pradesh’s Congress Chief Raj Babbar had stooped to his lowest by pulling Modi’s mother into this muck and comparing the devaluing rate of the Indian rupee to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aged mother.
In 2014, Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil had alleged that Narendra Modi is a “fake OBC”. He had also claimed Modh Ghanchi caste was not in the OBC list before Modi became CM. At that time, the Gujarat government had issued a clarification saying that Modi’s caste was notified as OBC in 1994 itself.
Congress slams Lalu Prasad Yadav for his casteist jibe at AICC leader
Ironically, the use of casteist slur against PM Modi came a day after Congress had expressed strong objection to supposedly casteist remarks made by RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav against All India Congress Committee in-charge for Bihar, Bhakt Charan Das.
Addressing the media on Sunday over bypolls to Tarapur and Kusheshwar Asthan assembly seats, Lalu Yadav derided former ally Congress as he questioned the party’s usefulness as a poll partner. Lalu Prasad said if the RJD had left an assembly bypoll seat in the state for the Congress, the latter could lose even its deposit.
RJD’s decision to go solo in the polls elicited a sharp reaction from Bhakt Charan Das, who accused Lalu Prasad Yadav’s party of betraying Congress.
When asked about the allegation by Bhakt Charan Das that by turning its back on the Congress, the RJD was helping the BJP, Lalu Yadav quipped, “Bhakt Charan is a bhakchonhar (stupid person)”.
The controversial remark came ahead of his return to Bihar after 6 months of convalescing from his illness in New Delhi following release from jail on bail post-conviction in fodder scam related cases in April this year.
Lalu’s insulting remarks did not sit well with the Congress party, which accused the former Bihar CM of slighting the Dalits of the country. Bihar Congress spokesperson Rajesh Rathore said, “Lalu Prasad Yadav insulted not only Bhakt Charan Das but all the Dalits of the country. The brunt of leaving the Congress was in the 2009 Lok Sabha and 2010 assembly elections. RJD has suffered. RJD should take a lesson from this.”
