Cong leader booked over caste remark against Modi

After the brouhaha over Narendra Modi’s marital status, now his caste has kicked up a row.

Following a complaint by a land broker, a local police station in Ahmedabad has registered a first information report (FIR) against Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil for his remark that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is a “fake OBC”.

A police officer told Khaleej Times that a complaint from Shailesh Modi belonging to the Modh-Ghanchi-Teli, a sub-caste included in the OBC (other backward classes), had been converted into an FIR.

He said Gohil, a former leader of the opposition in the Gujarat state legislative assembly, had been charged under various IPC sections and Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act. The charges relate to making false statements regarding elections, promoting enmity between different groups and indulging in acts prejudicial to maintenance of social harmony.

On Thursday, Gohil had told journalists that the Bahartiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was a ‘fake OBC’, and claimed that the ‘Modh Ghanchi-Teli’ caste to which the chief minister belonged, was actually included in the OBC list only after Modi took up the reins of the state in 2001.

In his plaint, Shailesh Modi had said that remarks made by Gohil, who also contested the April 30 Gujarat assembly by-elections from Abdasa in Kutch, were against the members of entire ‘Modh Ghanchi’ caste.

“Shaktisinh Gohil has made remarks against entire Modh-Ghanchi community for his vested political interest and to target some political person(s),” the complaint said, adding that the Congress leader had tried to defame the Ghanchi community by accusing the Ghanchis of taking benefits that were meant for OBCs, without having that right to do so.

mahesh@khaleejtimes.com

• India