Manish Sisodia: "It is necessary to have an educated prime minister for the progress of India," he said.
Former education minister of Delhi, jailed Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia, today wrote a letter addressing the people of the country, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's lack of educational qualification is 'dangerous' for India. His party boss, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has also been attacking the PM over the alleged confusion over his college degrees. Mr Kejriwal was recently fined Rs 25,000 by the Gujarat High Court for asking for details of the PM's graduation and post-graduation degrees through Right to Information (RTI).
Manish Sisodia's handwritten letter, tweeted by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, says, "Today's youth is aspirational, they want to achieve something, and they are looking for opportunities. They want to win over the world. They want to do wonders in science and technology. Does a less educated PM have the capacity to fulfil the aspiration of today's youth?," Mr Sisodia said in the letter.
Mr Sisodia said that science and technology are progressing daily, and the world is talking about artificial intelligence. "In this context, my heart sinks when I hear the Prime Minister saying that we can make tea or food from dirty gas by inserting a pipe in a dirty drain. Can food be cooked from the dirty gas of a drain? No. When the PM says that radar can't detect an aircraft flying behind clouds, he becomes a subject of mockery in the entire world. School and college students mock him," he said.
The entire world knows that the PM of India is less educated and doesn't have basic knowledge of science, Mr Sisodia said, claiming that other heads of hug the PM, they extract a high cost for every hug. Don't know what papers they make him sign, because the PM doesn't understand because he is less educated.
Alleging that 60,000 schools were shut down in recent years, Manish Sisodia said it shows that education is not a priority for the government at all. "If we don't give good education to our children, can the country progress? Never," he said.
"I saw a video of PM Modi where he is proudly saying that he is not educated. He says he has only studied in a village school. Is being illiterate or less educated something to be proud of? A country where the PM is proud of being less educated will never provide a good education for its children," the letter said.
Arvind Kejriwal, asked to pay the fine within four weeks, had tweeted: "Does the country not have the right to know how educated their Prime Minister is? They vehemently opposed revealing his degree in court. Why? And the person asking to see the degree will be fined? What is happening? An uneducated or less educated PM is dangerous for the country."
The CBI had on February 26 arrested Mr Sisodia in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 on February 26, following several rounds of questioning
On March 31, a trial court dismissed Mr Sisodia's bail application, saying he was "prima facie the architect" and played the "most important and vital role" in the criminal conspiracy relating to the alleged payment of advance kickbacks of Rs 90-100 crore meant for him and his colleagues in the Delhi government.