KTR derides BJP lawmakers from Telangana about fake degrees : KTR

HYDERABAD: Telangana Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao said on Tuesday that two BJP MPs from Telangana had fake educational certificates from Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu colleges.

Minister KTR took to Twitter and said, "Looks like we have too many MunnaBhai, MBBS types, in the BJP. Two BJP MPs from Telangana are also allegedly fake certificate holders. Have forged certificates from Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu universities."

He added, "Isn’t it a criminal offence to lie in your election affidavit on whose basis MP gets elected? Should the Lok Sabha Speaker not ascertain and disqualify if found guilty?"

Minister KTR also mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi by offering to show his original degrees at a time when Modi's fake degrees were widely circulated on social media.

After the Gujarat High Court ruled that the Prime Minister's Office was not required to provide Modi's degree and postgraduate certificates, the Minister took to Twitter and said, "I graduated from Pune University with a Masters Degree in Biotechnology. I also hold a Master of Business Administration degree from City University of New York. Both credentials can be made public. I'm just saying,” in an oblique quip at the Prime Minister.

This is not the first time that BJP MPs' fake degrees have been called into question. A fake degree that Nizamabad MP Arvind Dharmapuri claimed to have earned previously emerged online in the year 2020.

A letter dated February 2020 issued by Janardhan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) established that Nizamabad BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri was not a 2018 MA Political Science pass out student.

The letter surfaced in 2020 in response to the BJP MP's election affidavit, in which Arvind Dharmapuri stated that he possessed a master's degree in Arts in Political Science from Janardhan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth via distance education. The message raised concerns about the MP's submission of an allegedly forged degree to the Election Commission of India.

In response to BRS leader Krishank Manne's inquiry, the Directorate of Distance Education of Janardhan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University stated, 'With reference to the above subject, this is to inform you that according to University records, s/o of Dharmapuri Srinivas- Arvind Dharmapuri is not a passed out student in 2018 in Master of Arts, Political Science under distance education mode.”

However, this was in stark contrast to Dharmapuri's declaration, which stated that his highest education qualification was MA Political Science, which he obtained from Janardhan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) in 2018.