The Teli community said that Rahul Gandhi's statement reflects his 'casteist' mindset.

After Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was convicted by a Gujarat court, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office-bearers from the 'Teli' caste and community leaders on Thursday protested against Gandhi's 'derogatory' remarks against people with the surname 'Modi'. Apologized to him.

He warned of agitation against Rahul Gandhi's remarks.

The surname 'Modi' is commonly used by people from the 'Teli' community who are part of the Other Backward Classes (OBC).

BJP's Maharashtra unit president Chandrashekhar Bawankule slammed the former Congress president for "insulting" people from the 'Teli' community and said it reflected his "casteist" mindset.

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das accused Gandhi of crossing all limits of decency and asked him to apologize to the people of the country.

Das told reporters in Jharkhand that the fact that Rahul Gandhi has opted for bail has accepted his crime.

In a statement, Ram Kumar of the Akhil Bhartiya Teli Mahasangh said Gandhi has resorted to the method of "abusing" others after his party lost power and said people will teach him a lesson.

A Surat court on Thursday sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in prison in a criminal defamation case filed against him for his 2019 remarks over his 'Modi surname'.

The Congress leader's lawyer Babu Mangukia said the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Verma convicted Gandhi under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code and also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to enable him to face higher May be allowed to appeal to the court.

Rahul Gandhi was present in the court when the verdict was pronounced.