PM BA degree obtained by his namesake: Arvind Kejriwal

AAP leader Ashish Khetan with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal during a press conference at the Delhi Secretariat. (Photo: PTI)

In the backdrop of raging controversy over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s B.A. degree from the Delhi University, the Aam Aadmi Party on Friday gave it a fresh twist alleging that a degree obtained by a Modi namesake was being shown as the Prime Minister’s own, which chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said amounted to outright “cheating.”

Mr Kejriwal told a press conference that he can assert with “full responsibility” that the Delhi University’s records have no mention of “Narendra Damodardas Modi” and that one “Narendra Kumar Mahavir Prasad Modi” had taken admission in 1975. The chief minister said the issue was not whether the PM was “10th pass or 12th pass,” but that he has furnished “fake” certificates and “cheated” the people of the country. “You don’t need any degree to become PM. Talent is not necessarily a product of formal education. A person with less formal education can also be extremely talented, take for example Anna Hazare. Firstly, he lied in front of the country; secondly, he lied in his affidavit and thirdly, the degree that is emerging is forged. This is a case of cheating,” Mr Kejriwal said.

He claimed that AAP volunteers have conducted “searches” across departments of DU, even in the School of Open Learning, but did not come across Mr Modi’s enrolment form or degree.

“I started saying with full responsibility that Delhi University does not have his records only then. We came across one Modi who took admission in 1975 and is a resident of Alwar, His date of birth is 1958 whereas our PM’s date of birth is 1950,” the AAP chief said.

Meanwhile, the alleged “Narendra Kumar Mahavir Prasad Modi,” allegedly a resident of Alwar, told reporters that he took admission to Shri Ram College of Commerce in 1975. I am thankful to my father for giving me such a nice name as it is famous across the world now,” he said.