In a counter attack to BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's charge that the Congress was targeting him for his backward class identity, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said a person's actions could be low-level, not his caste.
" Neech karm hote hain, neech soch hoti hain, gusse ki soch hoti hai, Krodh ki soch hoti hai. Neech jaati nahin hoti (Actions can be low-level, a person's thoughts can be low-level, his ideology of anger can be low-profile. A person's caste cannot be low)," Mr. Gandhi told reporters in his constituency, Amethi.
Mr. Modi had on Tuesday in several rallies in UP given a >caste spin to Mr. Gandhi's sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's " neech rajneeti " (low-level politics) barb at him and used its reference to play upon his backward class identity. "Sometimes they ask how a tea-seller can run the country. They wonder how a person belonging to a 'neeche jaati' can get success in politics. I have sold tea, not the country," Mr. Modi remarked in Dhoomariyaganj.
His comments drew a sharp response from BSP supremo Mayawati who accused the Gujarat Chief Minister of distorting Ms. Vadra's comment and playing the "backward card" for electoral gains. She also challenged him to reveal his caste.
