Taking on Arvind Kejriwal on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's educational qualification status, BJP President Amit Shah and senior leader Arun Jaitley on Monday displayed his BA and MA degrees and demanded a public apology from the Delhi Chief Minister.
Forcefully rejecting the fake degree allegations, the two leaders accused Kejriwal of lowering the public discourse by spreading unsubstantiated canards against the Prime Minister.
Jaitley even said the kind of allegations that have been levelled against Modi threatens federal polity in the country and such attempts should be defeated strongly while challenging the Delhi Chief Minister to verify his claims.
"The politics of adventurism is being treated as a substitute for governance," he said, mounting a strong attack on Kejriwal.
Shah said Kejriwal has lowered the public discourse and that he has defamed the country before the whole world by levelling baseless allegations against Modi.
"It is very unfortunate that we have to hold this press meet to clarify the Prime Minister's educational qualification status," he said.
"Arvind Kejriwal has been spreading lies about the Prime Minister's credentials. He has committed the sin of defaming the country. When you do not have any proof, how can you spread allegations against the PM. He should apologise not only to the Prime Minister but to the entire nation," said Shah.
Jaitley talked about Modi coming here to appear in the Delhi University examinations during 1977-78, saying he was not then known to many.
"I knew this because I was a student union leader in Delhi University then," he said, adding, "These allegations are coming from a party several of whose leaders are being prosecuted for fake degree."
Kejriwal has been alleging that the Prime Minister's BA degree is fake and that it was obtained by a namesake of his from Alwar.
Last week, the Delhi Chief Minister had said that he can assert with "full responsibility" that Delhi University's records have no mention of "Narendra Damodardas Modi" and that one "Narendra Kumar Mahavir Prasad Modi" from Alwar had taken admission in 1975.
Kejriwal, who has been demanding that Modi's degrees be placed in the public domain, had 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.
Asked whether a defamation case would be filed against Kejriwal, Shah said no.
He also attacked Congress' Manish Tewari and JD (U) leader K C Tyagi for supporting Kejriwal on the issue.
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