Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused the Trinamool Congress of "robbing" the hard-earned rights of people belonging to other backward classes (OBCs) for the sake of appeasement and hit out at Mamata Banerjee for questioning the credibility of Calcutta High Court judges.

Modi was addressing a rally in Bengal for the first time after Calcutta High Court had on May 22 cancelled about five lakh OBC certificates issued by the state government since 2010.

"The court has unmasked how the TMC cheated the OBC youths. Calcutta High Court said designating 77 Muslim (sub) castes as OBC is illegal and unconstitutional," he told a rally in Ashoknagar, North 24-Parganas, in support of Rekha Patra and Swapan Majumdar, the BJP nominees in Basirhat and Barasat, respectively.

"It is against the Constitution. It means that the right, which lakhs of OBC youths got through constitutional provisions, had been robbed by the TMC overnight to help jihadis," Modi added.

A division bench of Calcutta High Court had passed a verdict scrapping more than five lakh “invalid” OBC certificates issued by the Bengal government after 2010. The bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha, which was dealing with a 2012 petition challenging the provisions of the OBC Reservation Act, also asked the state government to frame new rules along the lines of national norms before issuing certificates afresh.

Although Modi claimed in his Ashoknagar speech that the court had held the reservation granted to Muslims as OBCs "illegal and unconstitutional", the judges in their verdict did not identify any caste or religious community.

Trinamool leaders slammed Modi for making "false claims" about a court verdict and they saw it as his desperate attempt at polarisation before the last phase of polls.

"Aware that his ship is sinking, the PM made a false claim about a court verdict. This is no less than contemptuous behaviour. His polarisation ploy will not work in Bengal," said a Trinamool leader in Basirhat.

In 2010, the Left Front government included 53 sub-castes in the OBC list of the state, bringing around 87.1 per cent of the 2.02 crore Muslim population in Bengal under the category. It also enhanced the OBC reservation to 17 per cent from 7 per cent creating two groups.

The LF government had reserved 10 per cent of jobs for Group A for more backward sub-castes — a majority of whom were Muslims. Another seven per cent of the jobs were reserved for backward sub-castes, which included both Hindu and Muslim sub-castes. However, the executive order could not become an act as the LF government was defeated in the 2011 polls.

After coming to power, the Trinamool Congress placed in the Assembly a fresh bill that included 35 more sub-castes, of which 33 were Muslim, in the OBC category. With the inclusion of new sub-castes by the state government in late 2012, 92 per cent of the state's Muslim population had come under the OBC category.

A lawyer said the division bench had considered 2012's Reservation Act as ultra vires to the provisions laid down in the Constitution.

"See, the court mentioned the process by which the sub-castes were included in the list of OBCs. The court has asked the state to conduct a fresh process before issuing new certificates. The court did not say that it was wrong to include the Muslim sub-castes in the OBC category," said a state government official.

In his address, Modi also criticised the chief minister for her response to the high court order in which she had said she would not accept the verdict.

"See how she has been reacting after the court delivered its verdict. I am surprised.... Questions are being raised about the credibility of the judges here.... Questions are being raised about the judicial system," Modi said while asking whether Trinamool would unleash goons on the judges.

The Prime Minister held the Congress, the Left Front and Trinamool responsible for the poor state of the economy in Bengal.

"Many factories in Bengal lie dormant, forcing its youth to seek opportunities outside. The blame for this decline falls squarely on the shoulders of the Congress, followed by the Left, and now the TMC. Each party has contributed to Bengal's woes," he said.

Reiterating his allegations of terror unleashed by goons close to Trinamool, Modi said: "Women in Sandeshkhali sought justice, but it actually made them the target".

"A victory for a woman like Rekha Patra is needed so that the goons like Shahjahan never get stronger again," Modi said.