The BJP will make the “insult of the OBC community” by Rahul Gandhi a major poll issue for the upcoming state elections in the heartland and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, after a court in Surat convicted the Congress leader with a two-year jail term in a defamation case. The case stemmed from Gandhi’s 2019 remark that all “Modis are thieves”.
OBCs are a major vote bank in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh – states that go to polls this year.
BJP president JP Nadda made the party’s stand aptly clear in a series of tweets on Friday morning, after the Congress announced country-wide protests against Rahul Gandhi’s conviction that could lead to his disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP and bar him from contesting elections for the next six years.
Nadda said the Congress’s stand was a “continuing humiliation” of the OBC community and that people will reply in a democratic way when they cast their ballot.
Modi has been seen as an ‘OBC leader’ who has united the huge block of Other Backward Caste (OBC) voters behind the BJP. This was a major reason for the party’s victory in 2014 and 2019 General Elections as well as in key heartland states like Uttar Pradesh. The BJP is set to milk the conviction of Rahul Gandhi for his statement, presenting it as his and his party’s contempt for the OBC community.
“By comparing OBC communities to thieves, Rahul Gandhi has shown a pathetic and casteist mindset. However, his latest tirade is not surprising. For many years, he has always reduced the level of political discourse,” Nadda said in a series of tweets.
By comparing OBC communities to thieves, Mr. @RahulGandhi has shown a pathetic and casteist mindset. However, his latest tirade is not surprising. For the last many years he has always reduced levels of political discourse. Let me explain how in the thread below. ????????— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) March 24, 2023
“He gets a flak in the Courts but he refuses to apologise thus showing how deep rooted his hatred for OBCs is. The people of India did not forgive him in 2019…in 2024 the punishment will be more severe (sic),” Nadda said.
He said the Congress, by supporting Gandhi’s statement, is continuing to insult the OBC community, which, he added, will avenge this humiliation in a democratic way while casting their ballot.
Nadda recounted how earlier statements by Rahul Gandhi against Narendra Modi had been rejected by the people.
“Lies, personal slander and negative politics is integral to Rahul Gandhi. Let us go back to the time before 2019 – he was the newly minted Congress President and through the pre-election season his core issue was – cooked up Rafale scam. Wherever he went he spoke of it. His negative politics and cooked up Rafale scam faced a setback in the court of law. Our highest court of the land, the Honourable Supreme Court gave a very clear verdict on the Rafale issue and did not believe the corruption bogey Mr. Gandhi raised (sic),” Nadda said in his tweets.
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