Amid persistent attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his educational qualifications by some Opposition members, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday asked if anyone’s educational degrees should be a political issue in a country which is facing unemployment, inflation, and law and order problems.
“Should anyone’s educational degree be a political issue in the country when we are facing unemployment, law & order, and inflation? Today, differences are being created among people in the name of religion and caste. Crops have been destroyed due to unseasonal rains in Maharashtra. Discussions are necessary on these issues,” he was quoted by ANI as saying.
His remarks come amid Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s “show your degree” campaign, and also challenged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders to do the same.
“Doesn’t the country even have the right to know how educated their PM is? They were opposed to showing his degree in court. Why? Those who demand to see his degree will be fined? What is happening? An illiterate or less educated PM is very dangerous for the country,” he had said in the tweet on March 31.
The tweet was in response to the Gujarat High Court fining him Rs 25,000 for an RTI plea on PM Modi’s degrees.
Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray also took a dig at PM Modi’s degrees, and asked, “What is the problem in showing a degree?… Why doesn’t that college want to share Modi’s degree?… Which college doesn’t want to come out to feel proud of the fact that their college is where the Prime Minister studied.”
Responding to Pawar’s statements, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla tweeted saying, “Wonder if some leader of Congress, Uddhav Sena or AAP will now again attack him & call him names / abuse him! I sincerely hope they will listen to the Gujarat HC & their own ally too!”
Pawar’s statement follows his earlier remarks to NDTV in an interview where he took a stand contrary to that of the Opopsition and questioned the credentials and motives of US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research, which had made a litany of allegations on the Adani Group, including fraud and stock manipulation.
The NCP veteran also said that there was “no need” for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue as the Supreme Court-appointed committee will be more reliable and unbiased in its probe.
Several Opposition parties, led by Congress, have been demanding a JPC probe into the Adani-Hindenburg row. The issue also led to a major protest in the Parliament, leading to repeated adjournments, during the Budget Session of the Parliament which concluded on April 6.