The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in India has launched a “show your degree” campaign challenging BJP leaders to do the same. The announcement was made by AAP MLA and Delhi Education Minister Atishi, a week after the Gujarat High Court fined Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for seeking details of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degrees when the details were already in the public domain. Atishi, who holds a BA degree from Delhi University and two Master’s degrees from Oxford, challenged all leaders to show their degrees, especially BJP leaders, adding that AAP leaders would show their degrees as part of the campaign. The recent high court order added to the controversy over the AAP’s aggressive campaign highlighting PM Modi’s education. The party had put up posters in many cities targeting PM Modi.
In 2016, responding to Mr Kejriwal’s Right to Information (RTI) request for details on PM Modi’s education details, the then Central Information Commission M Sridhar Acharyulu told the Prime Minister’s Office, Gujarat University and Delhi University to give details about PM Modi’s graduation and postgraduation degrees. The Gujarat University put up PM Modi’s degree on its website immediately, but at the same time, challenged the Information Commission’s order as a matter of principle.The statement by Mr. Percy Kavina, the lawyer representing Arvind Kejriwal in the Gujarat High Court, suggests that the AAP believes it is legitimate to ask for educational qualifications of candidates during election campaigns. Kavina clarified that they were only asking for the degree certificate and not the mark sheet. This argument was made in response to the government’s contention that there was no public interest in disclosing PM Modi’s educational qualifications and that it would be an invasion of his privacy.
