Guj: Shah inaugurates advanced organic testing lab at Amul unit

Ahmedabad: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused the opposition Congress of harassing and insulting the Other Backward Classes during its rule at the Centre, and asserted that it was the BJP that gave the first OBC prime minister to the country in the form of Narendra Modi.

Addressing a national convention of the Modi community here, Shah said PM Modi gave the OBCs their due respect and understood the pain of poor citizens because he himself was born in such a family.

Referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark, he said if someone insults a person, it is not a big deal, but if someone insults an entire community and the prime minister, then it is an insult to the entire country.

During its rule at the Centre, Congress only neglected, harassed and insulted the OBCs. As soon as BJP came to power, PM Modi gave OBC community its due respect. And it was BJP who gave the first OBC PM to the country in the form of Modi,” said Shah, who has been on a two-day visit to home state Gujarat since Saturday.

He informed the members of the Modi community that the BJP also gave several OBC chief ministers and also accorded constitutional status to the OBC Commission.

Other initiatives taken by the Modi government for the backward classes include introducing reservations in Kendriya and Navodaya Vidyalay schools, introducing reservation in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and creating a venture capital fund for OBC entrepreneurs, the Union minister said.

“Congress ruled the country for nearly 56 years. But it never did anything for OBCs. On the other hand, Modiji did so many things in nine years for the OBCs. In addition, Modiji always remained concerned about the poor people. He understood the pain of the poor because he himself was born in such a family,” Shah added.