New Delhi, November 19: Former Union Minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha on Monday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remark that "Sitaram Kesri, a Dalit, was mistreated by the Congress". Yashwant Sinha addressed PM Modi in a tweet and asked why the prime minister was unfair to him when he is also a Dalit like Sitaram Kesri.

"Like Sitaram Kesri I am also a Dalit. Why is Modi being unfair to me," Sinha asked in a tweet. Addressing an election rally in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, PM Modi on Sunday alleged that Sitaram Kesri, who was from a “Dalit and exploited community”, was not allowed to complete his term as the Congress president so that Sonia Gandhi could take over the reins of the party.

"The country knows that Sitaram Kesri, who was from a Dalit and exploited community, was not allowed to complete his five-year term as the Congress president and was removed from the post,” PM Modi said while attacking the Nehru-Gandhi family. Hitting back, the Congress said Kesri was not a Dalit, but belonged the Other Backward Classes (OBC).

“Kesri was a Bania OBC from Bihar and not a Dalit. However, when has the PM allowed facts or truth to stand in the way?” Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari tweeted. Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel also accused the BJP humiliating the founders of the party and ignoring its first and only Dalit president Bangaru Laxman’s funeral.

“Is it true that when BJP’s first & only Dalit President, Bangaru Laxman ji’s funeral was held in Telangana, except Advani ji no one from present BJP leadership bothered to attend?” Patel tweeted. “The way BJP founders L K Advani ji & Murli Manohar Joshi ji have been humiliated by the BJP leadership, no founder of any political party in India has been treated in such a manner,” the Congress treasurer said in a separate tweet.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 19, 2018 07:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).