Telangana CM's remarks on PM Modi's caste "cheap": BJP's Ramchander Rao

Rao said that the statement was made to divert the people's attention from the caste census "fiasco" of the Congress government in the State.

"The remarks by the Chief Minister of Telangana about the caste of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are cheap and in poor political taste. This statement has been made by the Congress party only to divert their caste census fiasco, which has failed in the state," Rao told ANI.

"Their ministers themselves said that the entire census needs to be reviewed since some people have been left out," he added.

Chief Minister Reddy speaking at an event at the Congress headquarters in Hyderabad.on Thursday alleged PM Modi possessed "anti-backward classes" mentality.

BJP OBC Morcha national president K Laxman also lashed out at Telangana Chief Minister, saying that his statement about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's caste was "false."

"The statement made by CM Revanth Reddy on PM Narendra Modi's caste is completely false... Before becoming the CM of Gujarat, PM Narendra Modi's caste was added to the OBC list of the Gujarat government in 1994 and to the Centre's list before 2000... Revanth Reddy has given this statement to distract people's anger against him for not fulfilling the promises he made before being elected," Laxman, who is Rajya Sabha MP, told ANI.

There has been a political uproar over the caste survey conducted by the Congress government in Telangana, with opposition parties alleging discrepancies.

However, Congress leaders have termed it as "scientific, transparent and accurate".

Telangana Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said earlier this month that the caste-based socio-economic survey conducted by the Congress-led state government was the "most scientific, transparent, and accurate population study since Independence.

"This was the first-ever field-based caste survey undertaken after the 2011 Census, making all figures cited by opposition parties false and fictitious," the state's minister said.

The minister further emphasised that the government had ensured the highest level of accuracy in data collection.Reddy, who headed the cabinet sub-committee for the caste survey, underscored that no authentic caste-based data had been compiled in the past, particularly for Backward Classes (BCs), unlike previous studies, which were incomplete or unofficial, this was the first legitimate and detailed caste survey.The minister rejected claims that similar surveys had been conducted earlier, pointing out that the Intensive Household Survey (IHS) 2014 was never made public by the previous BRS government and that even the KCR government did not endorse it as official data.

"The survey involved two phases: a house-listing phase (November 6-8, 2024) to identify and register households, followed by the main data collection phase (November 9-December 25, 2024).The Planning Department incorporated inputs from social scientists, policymakers, and various stakeholders, finalising a questionnaire covering 57 primary questions and 75 data fields. Real-time monitoring, daily updates, and twelve high-level review meetings ensured smooth execution, officials said. (ANI)