Ahmedabad: Gujarat Speaker Rajendra Trivedi has provoked criticism by describing B.R. Ambedkar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "Brahmins", claiming that any learned person can be described thus.

Dalit leader and MLA Jignesh Mevani has said the statement betrayed a "casteist mindset" and the Congress has termed it "irresponsible".

"I have no hesitation in saying that Ambedkar (a Dalit) was also a Brahmin because his surname, a Brahmin surname, was given to him by his teacher, a Brahmin," Trivedi told the "Mega Brahmin Business Summit" at Gandhinagar on Sunday.

"There is nothing wrong in calling a learned person a Brahmin and in that context, I would say that even Modiji (who is from the Other backward Classes) is a Brahmin."

Trivedi, a Brahmin, won his Assembly seat on a BJP ticket. As his remarks triggered a controversy, he cited the Bhagavad Gita and said he was against "casteism" and that his remark had been taken out of context.

"Krishna has said in the Gita that caste should be based on the virtues one possesses, and not on one's birth. Thus, anyone can be called a Brahmin by virtue of his knowledge," he said.

Mevani said: "His statement shows his casteist mindset. What authority does he have to issue a certificate to Ambedkar, who struggled all his life to eradicate casteism?"

Mevani, an Independent elected to the Assembly with Congress support last year, added: "Ambedkar had never wished to be a Brahmin. He wanted to see a society free of caste. Since Trivedi was associated with the RSS, he would never understand the teachings of Ambedkar."

State Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said: "It's a serious matter when a person occupying such a high position makes such irresponsible statements about a great person like Ambedkar." PTI