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Addressing a rally in Chhattisgarh, PM Modi said former Congress chief Sitaram Kesri was a Dalit who was ‘thrown out of office’ to make way for Sonia Gandhi.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi goofed up Sunday when he claimed that ‘Dalit’ leader Sitaram Kesri was not allowed to complete his term as Congress president and was “thrown out of office” to make way for Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress was quick to respond to this through a sarcastic tweet by senior Congress leader and spokesperson Manish Tewari.

“Kesri was a Bania OBC from Bihar & not a DALIT. However when has PM allowed facts or truth to stand in the way?” Tewari responded.

Tewari also denied that Kesri was ill-treated by the Congress.

“Cong Pres Sita Ram Kesri was treated with due respect by one and all. As someone who was involved with his legal matters btw 1996-1998 I can say it on authority. Had spent many hours with him after he resigned from AICC President. You are misinformed @narendramodi,” Tewari said.

Also read: Modi dares Congress to make someone from ‘outside the family’ party president

Chandan Yadav, the Congress’ national secretary in-charge of Chattisgarh, added: “There is certain stature associated with the prime ministerial post and the PM should not make such comments. In the past too, he has twisted facts. He is trying to mislead the people of Chhattisgarh.

“Sitaram Kesri belonged to the backward class and had received utmost respect by the Congress. People know the Modi ji can twist facts for his benefit and they no longer trust him.”

Also read: PM Modi says Dalit leader Sitaram Kesri wasn’t allowed to complete term as Congress chief

PM’s allegations

Prime Minister Modi was addressing a rally on the last day of campaigning for the second and final phase of the Chhattisgarh assembly polls. Referring to the Nehru-Gandhi family, Modi said four generations of a family ruled the country and “benefitted from being in power”, but the country did not benefit from their rule.

“Remember the days when four generations of a family ruled the country? What was the fate of the people? They only thought about the welfare of one family but never thought about the welfare of the people. How can we trust them that they will fulfil the aspirations of the people now?” Modi said.

He challenged the Congress to select someone “capable” as its president, who did not belong to “that one family”.

He claimed that three-term Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh had to face a lot of challenges from the Congress-led government at the Centre between 2004 and 2014.

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