Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had never done caste politics.

“How is the Prime Minister’s caste relevant? He has never done caste politics. He has only done developmental politics. He is inspired by nationalism,” Jaitley said, joining a war of words on Twitter over Modi hailing from a “most backward caste”.

Jaitley said those who were deceiving the poor in the name of caste will not succeed and added that “they have only amassed wealth in the name of caste politics. The Prime Minister’s assets are not even 0.01% when compared to the First Family of the BSP or the RJD.”

The minister was responding to tweets of senior Congress leader and former finance minister P. Chidambaram and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on a statement made by the Prime Minister at an election rally in Kannauj.

At the poll rally on Saturday, Modi had said: “Mayawatiji, I am the most backward.… I request with folded hands not to drag me into caste politics, 130 crore people are my family. This country did not know my caste till my detractors abused me.… I am thankful to Mayawatiji, Akhileshji, the Congress people and the mahamilavatis that they are discussing my caste.… I believe that taking birth in a backward caste is an opportunity to serve the country.”

Tejashwi Yadav tweeted on Sunday: “I had said on April 20 (2019) that @narendramodi ji, after portraying himself as fake OBC, will call himself a person belonging to extremely backward caste. He did so yesterday (in Kannauj rally in UP).

“The fact is that he is an upper caste (person) by birth and backward on papers. He (the PM) will say so many things just to fetch votes.”

Criticising Modi over his stance on caste and his “origins as a chaiwala”, Chidambaram asked if the Prime Minister considers people a “bunch of idiots” who have suffered memory loss.

Chidambaram tweeted: “Mr Narendra Modi is the first person who became PM later who campaigned wearing his caste on his sleeve (2014): ‘I am an OBC’. Now, he says he has no caste!

“In 2014 and thereafter, he said repeatedly that he is proud that the people elected a chaiwala as PM. Now he says, he never mentioned his origins as a chaiwala! What does the PM take us for? A bunch of idiots who have large memory losses?”