For Thakur, who was denied a ministerial berth in Modi’s third-term Cabinet, this was high praise, indeed. But Modi wouldn’t have reacted if it wasn’t Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in the eye of Thakur’s speech, Arjun-like. Of late, the LoP is fair game for every BJP MP, from Nirmala Sitharaman to Kiren Rijiju, even the untested Kangana Ranaut.

Anurag Thakur’s speech struck the right notes for the Prime Minister. Result: The Congress has vowed a privilege motion against Anurag Thakur over and above Rahul Gandhi's assertion that “we will pass the Caste Census in Parliament”. This was after Thakur’s wisecrack “the one who doesn’t know his caste is talking of caste.” The BJP MP with the French beard couldn’t have been more obnoxious. But PM Modi, taking to ‘X’, formerly Twitter, couldn’t have been more explicit.

Thakur exposed the “dirty politics of the INDI-Alliance,” Modi posted to ‘X’. The clever juxtaposing of caste and “alpsankyak” had dragged the BJP down to ‘33’ Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2024 from the high of ‘62’ Lok Sabha seats in 2019. The ‘PDA’ of the Samajwadi Party had even left Modi scrambling for votes in Varanasi. Bosom buddies Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav had organized the loot.

Akhilesh Yadav pounced on Thakur, asking the BJP leader who the hell was he to ask Rahul Gandhi his “caste”? A video of Akhilesh Yadav asking a journalist his caste, “Mishra, so you’re a Mishra? I knew, I knew” surfaced on social media soon after. The Prime Minister’s “young and energetic colleague Shri Anurag Thakur” had succeeded in needling the Indian National Congress and the Samajwadi Party.

LoP Rahul Gandhi swore that INDI-Alliance would get a Caste Census done and present it in Parliament come what may, knowing well that such assertions are what riles the BJP MPs who then go after the Gandhi scion like a pack of bloodthirsty attack-K9s. Rahul Gandhi’s obsession with the Caste Census irks the BJP no end. What riles BJP MPs even more is the manner of his speech delivery. The Rahul Gandhi who is Leader of Opposition is different from the MP who wasn’t LoP.

This Rahul Gandhi keeps them riveted, like deer caught in the glare of a car headlight, road-kill! Especially when the topic is ‘Caste Census’, two words that Rahul Gandhi says will be the death of NDA/BJP Rule. Now, Anurag Thakur has asked Rahul Gandhi, although indirectly, what his caste was, and the stinging insult harks back to the origins of the caste system.

Outside of politics, caste is a dirty word. Politicians like Mayawati and Chandrashekar ‘Ravan’ Azad look at caste and reservation as vote-catchers necessary for the elimination and annihilation of the caste system.

Castes keep certain brands of politicians in votes, and in power. For example, what is PDA other than caste and minority-appeasement? It fetched the Samajwadi Party 37 of UP’s 80 Lok Sabha seats. No wonder Akhilesh Yadav lost his temper when Thakur asked Rahul Gandhi his “caste”. The same Rahul Gandhi who brought a journalist to tears, repeatedly asking, “What’s the caste of the man who owns your newspaper?” – An ugly moment during Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’. Thakur’s stinging attack on Rahul Gandhi had its seeds in the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ – the 99 Lok Sabha seats that the Congress mustered is also the spoils of the twin yatras.

The once tongue-tied Rahul Gandhi found his voice with the two Bharat Jodo yatras and whoever was writing the script for Rahul Gandhi, he/she had a finger on the “BJP’s slow pulse”. The Raebareli MP has now entrapped the Modi government in a "chakravyuh” of Mahabharata proportions, linking it to the Lotus pinned to the Prime Minister Modi’s shrunken 56” chest.

Anurag Thakur referred to the “jibe aimed at the BJP-led government” and said the Congress leader is confusing “leader of propaganda” with LoP. Truth is, BJP/NDA hadn’t factored in that Rahul Gandhi, the “young and energetic Congress leader”, would be like as the LoP, the “Shadow Prime Minister” if not “Prime Minister”. No wonder Modi is the most happy when “facts and humour” bring down Rahul Gandhi.

Modi liked it best when Thakur said OBC for the Congress was “Only Brother-in-law Commission”. It was also gratifying to listen to Thakur juxtaposing Rahul’s father Rajiv Gandhi’s opposition to caste politics with Rahul’s obsession with Caste Census. Similarly, Thakur’s use of “accidental Hindus” also hit the nail on the head for Prime Minister Modi. Rahul Gandhi spoke of “insulting and abusing me” and Anurag Thakur showered Rahul with more insults. Swami Vivekananda would have told both Rahul Gandhi and Anurag Thakur to take a break and meditate. (IPA Service)