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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  BJP, Congress spar over Smriti Irani’s educational qualifications
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BJP, Congress spar over Smriti Irani’s educational qualifications

HRD minister had made contradictory declarations of educational qualification when filing affidavits for contesting elections in 2004 and 2014

Smriti Irani is HRD minister in Narendra Modi’s cabinet. Photo: PTIPremium
Smriti Irani is HRD minister in Narendra Modi’s cabinet. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: HRD minister Smriti Irani was on Wednesday at the centre of a raging controversy over her educational qualification after it emerged that she had made contradictory declarations when she contested elections in 2004 and 2014.

The Congress, one of whose leaders struck a different note, escalated its attack while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back asking answers from it about the educational qualifications of Sonia Gandhi.

Ever since, women’s rights activist Madhu Kishwar raked up a controversy over the fact that Irani just a 12th pass has been made HRD minister, the issue has only snowballed. The 38-year-old television actor-turned-politician preferred to keep mum. She refused to comment when media approached her.

There was more embarrassment in store for the BJP and the new government after it emerged that Irani had given contradictory declarations in her affidavits in 2004 and 2014 when she contested Lok Sabha election from two different constituencies.

As a candidate in 2004 elections from Chandni Chowk in Delhi, Irani had declared that she had a Bachelor of Arts degree. “B.A. 1996 Delhi University (School of Correspondence)", she had written in the column which seeks details of university education and the year in which the course was completed.

In the same column of the affidavit filed in the 2014 elections from Amethi, Irani has said, “Bachelor of Commerce Part-1, School of Open Learning (Correspondence), University of Delhi-1994". In 2012, the Supreme Court had ruled that false disclosures in an affidavit can be a ground for rejection of a candidate’s nomination.

Another minister Santosh Gangwar said he wants to ask Congress how educated was its president Sonia Gandhi. Joining issues, BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said Congress leaders should shed their “arrogance" after the party’s defeat in the Lok Sabha polls and do introspection.

Naqvi said the party was defeated in elections due to “arrogance" of the Congress leaders but they are still not ready to leave their arrogance. “Congress leaders should now stop using abusive words against BJP leaders. Congress should respect mandate of the people," he said.

Congress leader Ajay Maken on Tuesday jibed at Irani’s educational qualification.

“What a Cabinet of Modi? HRD Minister (looking after education) Smriti Irani is not even a graduate! Look at her affidavit at ECI site pg 11," he had tweeted yesterday.

Uma Bharti said Congress had raised questions about her candidature from Jhansi in the past by saying that she belonged to Madhya Pradesh and was making a similar mistake in this case. “First the Congress should show certificates of Sonia Gandhi to show how educated she is and from where. Only then they can ask such questions (about Irani)," Bharati said. She said that it was not necessary that a health minister should be a doctor but what matters is how a person works. “Sonia Gandhi should tell about her certificates or else stop Congress from making comments."

However, senior Congress leader Manish Tewari had a different take on the issue when he said any attack on the government should be on substance and not superficials. He said that these kind of remarks used to emanate from the BJP in the early 2000s but had got decisively buried after UPA’s two successive victories under her leadership.

“It anybody is attempting to question the political sagacity of Sonia Gandhi, I think possibly they are blowing a trumpet which nobody is interested in," Tewari said. To a question on the Irani controversy, Tewari felt that criticism of the government should be policy based rather than personality centric.

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Published: 28 May 2014, 01:36 PM IST
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