The Congress on Friday said Narendra Modi never claimed to be an OBC when he was the chief minister of Gujarat and started the “lower caste” narrative only when he dreamt of becoming Prime Minister.

A day after Rahul Gandhi said Modi was not born an OBC and his caste was included in the backward category by the BJP government, party spokesperson and Gujarat Congress chief Shaktisinh Gohil gave a new twist to the controversy by asserting that the Prime Minister was a “fake OBC”.

Gohil said the Modi community had not been included in the OBC list and the Prime Minister was not from the “Modh Ghanchi” caste that was accorded the backward status in 2002, and not 2000 or 1999 as mentioned by Rahul and the BJP.

Addressing a news conference in Delhi, Gohil said: “When Narendra Modi became the chief minister of Gujarat, the Modi Samaj held a meeting in Mumbai and hailed the ‘first chief minister’ from their ‘Super Upper Caste’ which was known for its prosperity and social status. They also brought out a magazine which carried advertisements hailing the appointment of the chief minister. Why did Modi not reject that resolution, telling them that he came from an OBC?”

Gohil said: “Show me one sentence spoken by Modi that he is a backward, an OBC when he ruled Gujarat for 13 years. He started flaunting his OBC status only when he thought of becoming the Prime Minister because of electoral arithmetic. Everybody accepts Bhagwat Gomandal, the cultural encyclopedia of Gujarati society, and it does not say the Modi community is OBC. Though Modh Ghanchi was included in the OBC list on January 1, 2002, Modi is not Ghanchi.”

To buttress his claim, Gohil recalled the submission by BJP leader Purnesh Modi in the case against Rahul for “defaming” the Modi surname. He said: “Purnesh Modi said in Surat court that Modi Samaj in Gujarat is known as ‘Modh Vanik’. Vanik is vyapari (bania) and he didn’t say Ghanchi or Teli. In fact, he went on to say, ‘Modi Samaj Trust does not accept Modh Ghanchi, Rathore, Teli, as members’. Let Modi not ask his minions to show us fake documents; let him debate with us and prove that he is a Ghanchi.”