'Jaati kaise pooch li?': Anurag Thakur hits back at Akhilesh Yadav; shares old video

NEW DELHI: Former Union minister Anurag Thakur, in a sharp response to Akhilesh Yadav, shared an old video on Wednesday showing the Samajwadi Party chief inquiring about a journalist's caste and name.
Thakur shared the video with the caption, "Jaati kaise pooch li Akhilesh Ji? (How can you ask about the caste)"

How it started?
It started when Anurag Thakur seemingly referred to Rahul Gandhi's caste during a Union Budget discussion in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, sparking a heated exchange between the opposition and treasury benches.
Thakur remarked, "Those whose caste is not known, talk about the caste census. I want to remind the Speaker that in this House itself, a former Prime Minister RG-1 had opposed reservation for OBCs."
Gandhi accused Thakur of insulting and abusing him during the debate but stated that he would not demand an apology from the former Union minister.
What Akhilesh Yadav said
In response, Akhilesh Yadav questioned the appropriateness of Thakur's statement in the Parliament, emphasizing that while various issues have been discussed in the House, including the Mahabharata, asking about someone's caste is unacceptable.
“The member is a senior face of a big party, he has been a minister. Lots of issues have been raised in the House, we have spoken about Mahabharata, too, here, but I have a question .. How can you ask anybody's caste?” the Samajwadi Party chief asserted.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared Thakur's speech on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, praising it as a perfect blend of facts and humor that exposes the dirty politics of the INDI Alliance.
"This speech by my young and energetic colleague Shri Anurag Thakur is a must hear. A perfect mix of facts and humour, exposing the dirty politics of the INDI Alliance," PM Modi said in a post on X.
Amidst the controversy in Parliament, the Congress party stated that the Gandhi family's caste is martyrdom, a concept that the BJP-RSS will never comprehend.