New Delhi: Congress has been utterly decimated, routed through the ranks in the just concluded 2014 parliamentary elections. And, if detractors of the grand old party are to be taken at their face value, the obliteration is there to stay stretched, may be till the day Rahul Gandhi wakes up with a sense of sensitivity for a situation and keeps his dimpled-cheek-smile in control, especially when publicly asked to elucidate the muddy show of his political unit.
It should be no overstatement to make that the latest mandate by people is retribution or castigation for Congress for indulging in vulgar implementation of social welfare schemes which ultimately hit the final nail in the Congress’ coffin. Now, the party is not even fit to put up as major opposition force inside the Parliament.
“Modi-fied” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) must be taking sigh of relief from this, thinking the dilapidated Congress will barely be able to tender plentiful resistance to them, meaning thereby, the shots are up to be taken for free without worrying about the bartender and the bill.
Nonetheless, it was not to be!
Social activist, feminist, academic and writer; known self-confessed Modi supporter (though she doesn’t agree by a bit of it) for long, as much as my memory serves me, has taken up the cause for the Congress – it’s actually what some of the BJP leaders have to say off-the- record.
Anyone well aware of the journalist-activist must know about her vociferous defence of Narendra Modi on all accounts, including the latter's alleged involvement in the Gujarat 2002 riots. Kishwar has also written a book on Modi, titled "Modi, Muslims and Media".
The fire-spitting activist who is known for carrying her heart on sleeve mostly, and doesn’t mind calling spade a spade even if it pains her most dearly, has been involved in number of controversies in the past, and the latest one is no lesser in magnitude as well.
She takes on the youngest politician in the Modi cabinet, the 38-year old Smriti Irani, this time. To her, the TV actress of once is not fit to be the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) minister.
She posted on a social networking site "Irani claims to be BCom part 1 frm correspondence school. No such degree exists. Means just took admission and left. Misrepresent in affidavit."
Another post said, "Congress & Left have nurtured intellectuals, academics for decades. BJP neglected this arena. @narendramodi better put worthy person in HRD,” giving the listless and down beat Congress enough fodder to at least make them feel in the race after the historic catastrophe in the general elections.
To know her version of the story, as all ethically active journalists should do, I contacted her over a call. Speaking to Daily Bhaskar over phone, Kishwar said, “It’s wrong to believe I hold allegiance to a certain group. No matter who it is, I will always speak the truth,” when asked what brought about such a sweeping shift in her stand that was always supposed to be sympathetic with Modi and his works.
She stated “I have nothing personal against Smriti Irani. But, a ministerial post as esteemed and significant as HRD should be chaired by a person with a proven intellect and celebrated contribution towards the field.”
Despite going all out against Irani for her lacking credentials as an HRD minister she was quick to add “if Smriti proves me wrong in the time to come, with her exceptional performance, I would not hesitate from begging apology for my remarks. But for this to happen, she must produce something exception, that hasn’t been witnessed ever before.”
Post commenting on the issue, the lady not only faced ire of certain sections in the BJP, various renowned academics (and some self-confessed ones) also went all out firing from all cylinders, reminding her if degree had been criteria for any position, trio of established academics such as Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram and Montek Ahluwalia should have turned India into “golden sparrow” of past, once again, during the UPA’s 10 year rule.
Some of the tweetizens offended by Kishwar’s remarks also asked her “What did PhD holders such as Murli Manohar Joshi do in their last term? Joshi was just busy in saffronization of NCERT text books.”
An article in the Economic Times throws further light into the issue.
Then, there was a fragment on social sites that attributed her bizarre comments to the Modi government’s indisposition towards accommodating the “old horses” of the party in the cabinet.
An article in Firstbiz claimed there are 6 other ministers who aren’t even 12th pass.
It reads:“And curiously enough, it turn out that three other women ministers have only studied up to class 12 or lower. As per their affidavits submitted to the Election Commission, it turns out that Uma Bharti, Harsimrat Kaur and Maneka Gandhi are as educated or studied less than Irani. While water resources minister Uma Bharti studied until class 5, food processing industries minister Harsimrat Kaur studied till class 10 and women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi, like Irani, studied only till class 12.The new aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju only studied to class 10 while his minster of state GM Siddeshwara has also studied up to the same level. Minister for heavy industries Anant Geete and minister of state for mines and steel Vishnu Deo Sai also share the same educational qualification.”
But, shouldn’t Madhu Kishwar’s point of view analyzed in a broader context?
It’s not about holding certain educational qualifications by which one should be deemed suitable for the job. That way, it should have been former Army Chief VK Singh who should be holding the Defence Ministry in place of Arun Jaitley.
It’s all about holding prior experience when presiding over matters that won’t only affect the present but the future generations too.
Smriti has been a popular actress in her soap “Kyunki Saas bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” and worked the hard way to reach where she is at present.
She is doing a great job by working for under-privileged citizens by setting up the NGO "People for Change" to provide drinking water to the poor in remote areas. But she lacks administrative familiarity, unlike Jaitley who despite tasting loss in his Lok Sabha constituency is still considered foremost requisite in the newly formed government for his proven track record as a lawyer, academic and administrator.
India has already witnessed a successive crop of failed HRD ministers who presided and went away without making a serious attempt to revive the educational system of the country including Kapil Sibal, from whom a lot was expected.
So, for a new-comer without any experience whatsoever how things run in the administrative set-up, the job seems far too unworkable.
Madhu Kishwar minces no words when she says “even Modi’s reputation as Gujarat CM can’t be taken for granted anymore.” Because governing state is completely different from leading a nation.
Kishwar says, "HRD is very important ministry. The country can't afford to waste another five years.”
Talking to CNN-IBN Kishwar said “as a HRD minister, she will be expected to deal with IIT and IIM graduates. She won't get any respect. Is this a joke? She doesn't deserve to be the HRD minister," the activist claimed.
"A ministry isn't anyone's 'jaydat' that you distribute to anyone. Those who supported Modi are shell shocked. No one respects her in the BJP. On the other hand, senior people like Dr Harshvardhan and Maneka Gandhi have been given lower level ministries," she said.
While contesting in 2004 elections from Chandni Chowk in Delhi, the actor-turned politician had claimed that she had a Bachelor of Arts degree.
An Outlook report says: “While contesting in 2004 elections from Chandni Chowk in Delhi, the actor-turned politician had claimed that she had a Bachelor of Arts degree.
"B.A. 1996 Delhi University (School of Correspondence)", she had written in the column which seeks details of University education and the year in which the course was completed.
In the same column of the affidavit filed in the 2014 elections from Amethi, Irani has said, "Bachelor of Commerce Part-1, School of Open Learning (Correspondence), University of Delhi-1994."
In 2012, the Supreme Court had ruled that false disclosures in an affidavit can be a ground for rejection of a candidate's nomination.
Furthermore, if Smriti’s educational details in poll nomination affidavit prove wrong, provided they are contested in court, this could result as a big embarrassment to the BJP.
But, the question that arises now is why has been Irani given a much powerful ministry when others, much superior to her in terms of experience and administrative skills, were asked to be content with much lower level berths?
Is it for the tough fight she gave to Rahul in Amethi that impressed Modi and his think-tank? Are they objectively promoting Irani to tackle Rahul’s stronghold in Amethi for future?
Whatever it’s, Congress has been provided an issue on a platter and it’s making right use of it as well.
Former Sports Minister Ajay Maken had earlier commented “What a Cabinet of Modi? HRD Minister (Looking after Education) Smriti Irani is not even a graduate! Look at her affidavit at ECI site pg 11”.
But Mr. Maken how many gold medals you won in 100 m race in Olympics when you were given the responsibility of the Sports Ministry……?
Of course, it’s not about degree, but when under-achievers overrule the ones who deserve actually, questions are bound to stand up automatically!
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