Hyderabad: Amid the ongoing debate over Telangana's caste survey, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not belong to a backward class by birth but is part of a "legally converted backward class", media reports said.

He alleged that the Gujarat government reclassified Modi’s caste as part of the backward classes after he became the state’s chief minister in 2001, reported NDTV.

The BJP strongly criticised Reddy’s remarks, accusing him of making sensational statements to attract attention.

The party claimed the Telangana chief minister was trying to divert focus from his failure to fulfil his electoral promises.

"PM Modi claims to be from a backward class, but he is not from a backward class by birth. He is a legally converted backward class. I am choosing my words carefully. Till he became chief minister in 2001, he was among the forward castes. After he became chief minister, he shifted his caste's category from forward to backward by enacting a legislation,"Reddy said in Telugu, addressing a Congress event on Friday, according to the NDTV report.

He further alleged, "He says he is in the chair as a backward class. He may hold a caste certificate as a backward class but his mindset is anti-backward class."

BJP spokesperson RP Singh dismissed Reddy’s claims, arguing that he was resorting to controversy to remain in the spotlight.

"He (Reddy) does not do any work and wants to ensure he makes headlines by making such controversial statements. He had earlier said (former chief minister) K Chandrashekar Rao had 'Bihari genes', thereby insulting all of Bihar. He should talk only after finding out all the facts," Singh said, reported NDTV.

K Laxman, national president of the BJP's OBC Morcha, pointed out that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had made a similar remark in the past and faced public backlash.

" Reddy's comment on PM Modi's caste is absolutely false. Rahul Gandhi had also made a similar remark and fallen in the eyes of the people. Why do people from the Congress keep commenting on the PM's caste? Revanth Reddy made the comment to keep his leaders happy. Reddy could not fulfil the promises and guarantees that he made to the people of Telangana, who are angry, and is making such statements to distract from the real issues," he said, according to the report.

Following Rahul Gandhi’s similar statement last year, the National Commission for Backward Classes had clarified that the Modh Ghanchi caste was included in Gujarat’s State List of OBCs on July 25, 1994.

"The National Commission for Backward Classes tendered advice to the Union Government on 15.11.1997 for inclusion of Modh-Ghanchi in the Central List of OBCs for the State of Gujarat, and Gazette Notification for the same was issued on 27.10.1999. It may be noted that when both of the above decisions for inclusion of Modh-Ghanchi in the State List of OBCs as well as in the Central List of OBCs were taken, Shri Narendra Modi held no legislative or executive position," the panel had stated.

The controversy comes after the Telangana government presented partial findings from its caste survey in the Assembly on February 4.

Opposition parties, including the BJP and K Chandrashekar Rao's BRS, criticised the survey for being incomplete. Some Congress leaders also raised concerns over discrepancies in the data.

In response, the Telangana government announced a second phase of the survey to include the 3.1% of the state’s population that was not covered in the first round.

This additional survey is set to take place from February 11 to February 28.