NEW DELHI: Rejecting claims about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degrees and marksheets, Aam Admi Party (AAP) and its leader Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the documents had “glaring discrepancies” and stuck to the charge that the documents had been forged.
Earlier on Monday, at a press conference in New Delhi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and ruling party chief Amit Shah released copies of Modi’s Bachelor of Arts and Masters degrees and accused the opposition of running a smear campaign.
BJP President Shah demanded AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal apologize for “spreading lies” about the prime minister, as a political row over the degrees intensified.
“If you (Kejriwal) did not have any proof how did you make such an allegation? You have tried to spread lies. You must apologize publicly to the nation,” Shah said.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to hold such a press conference at all,” Shah added.
Jaitley, Modi’s top lieutenant, accused Kejriwal of attempting to mislead voters instead of getting on with the job of governing the Indian capital.
Last week, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal accused the premier of lying about graduating from Delhi University with a BA and obtaining a Masters in Political Science from Gujarat University.
The AAP refused to back down on Monday, with leader Ashutosh, who uses one name, insisting there were “glaring discrepancies” in the released certificates, including different spellings of Modi’s name.
Social media lit up on Monday over the controversy, with many users in India sympathetic to Modi, and with #kejriwalsaysorry trending on Twitter.
Modi, who came from humble beginnings and sold tea at a railway station as a boy, stormed to power in 2014, when the BJP won the biggest majority in three decades.
Kejriwal rejects BJP’s claim on Modi’s degrees
Kejriwal rejects BJP’s claim on Modi’s degrees
