On Sunday (April 9), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched its ‘Degree Dikhao’ campaign in the hopes of casting aspersions on the authenticity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational qualifications.
AAP MLA Atishi announced, “We are launching Degree Dikhao campaign from today onwards. Every single day, one AAP leader will showcase his/her degree before the public. I am kicking off this campaign by showing you my BA degree from Delhi University and two MA degrees from Oxford University.”
“I want to appeal to all politicians in the country to let the public know about their educational qualifications. I will make a special request to the BJP to ask their leader (referring to PM Modi) to show his degrees as well if at all he has one,” she said.
“डिग्री दिखाओ Campaign”🎓
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) April 9, 2023
आज से रोज AAP के नेता अपनी Degree देश के सामने रखेंगे
मेरे पास 3 डिग्री है:
1️⃣BA (Delhi University)
2️⃣MA (Oxford University)
3️⃣2nd Master’s (Oxford University)
देश के सभी नेताओं से अपील: अपनी डिग्री दिखाएं, खासकर BJP के वरिष्ठ नेता।
–@AtishiAAP pic.twitter.com/Cj7OA7AGp8
For over 8 years, the Aam Aadmi Party had been insinuating that PM Modi does not have an educational degree. This is despite the fact that BJP leader Amit Shah put the Prime Minister’s degrees on public display in May 2016 (7 years ago).
Recently, even the Gujarat High Court reprimanded AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal for raking up the issue of PM Modi’s degree even though the same can be accessed by anyone.
Even then, AAP did not stop its relentless propaganda to suggest that the degrees are fake. With the 2024 elections in mind, the party is looking to target the BJP by reiterating the same lies surrounding the Prime Minister’s educational qualifications.
AAP Minister Jitender Singh Tomar and the saga of his fake degree
While Atishi has announced that every AAP leader will show his degree to the public from April 9 onwards, it must be mentioned how a former party MLA and Delhi Cabinet Minister went to jail over his fake degree.
Jitender Singh Tomar, who served as AAP MLA and Delhi Law Minister, was arrested in June 2015 for submitting a forged law degree from Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University while filing his election nomination.
He had also fraudulently claimed to have obtained a BSc degree from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University in Faizabad. Tomar had used these forged documents to obtain admission to Delhi Bar Council as an advocate.
He later admitted that he bought both degrees from agents in Munger and Delhi with the help of his brother. In order to save face, Aam Aadmi Party did not give him an election ticket but shrewdly handed one to his wife, Preeti Tomar.
“I told the party that my wife will fight the election and the party agreed,” the AAP leader with two fake degrees told the media. As such, the Aam Aadmi Party must do self-introspection before playing out the ‘Degree Dikhao’ campaign.
