The Congress on Saturday sought a public clarification from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his educational qualifications and his stated date of birth, failing which the party may take the matter to the Election Commission.
The principal Opposition party joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in questioning the authenticity of Mr. Modi’s educational qualifications and date of birth, as stated in the affidavit that he had filed along with his nomination papers for contesting elections.
“It appears there are certain discrepancies on Mr. Modi’s date of birth and the BA degree he got from Delhi University,” party spokesperson Manish Tewari told journalists.
ADVERTISEMENT
He added “In the interests of probity, the Prime Minister should make a clarification. I am not saying that what he has said is correct or not correct, only that there are serious questions related to his affidavit that need to be answered.”
Showing a bunch of documents that, he said, showed that the Narendra Modi who had received a BA degree in 1978 from Delhi University was not the same as the Prime Minister, he pointed out that the date of birth of the individual at the time of applying for admission was shown as 1958: the Prime Minister was born, according to his affidavit several years before that.
GSPC scamADVERTISEMENT
Earlier on Saturday, a delegation of Gujarat Congress leaders met President Pranab Mukherjee to seek a judicial probe into the alleged Rs. 19,760 crore scam in Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) when Mr Modi was Chief Minister of the State.
The memorandum states the alleged scam took place through “squandering of public money in GSPC.”