Smriti Irani : I too have a Yale degree

New Delhi: The controversy over HRD Minister Smriti Irani's educational qualifications has taken a new twist with her assertion that she also has a degree from Yale University in US. "In that kitty of mine where people call me 'anpad' (illiterate) I do have a degree from Yale University as well which I can bring out and show how Yale celebrated by leadership capabilities. "Extraneous circumstances are being created so that I deviate my concentration from what my goals are," she said at the event. The BJP leader said she should be judged from what she delivers as a minister. Irani did not explain what the Yale degree was but she was part of a group of Indian MPs which underwent a crash course at the Yale University.

When pressed further at the 'India Today' event to clear the air over her educational qualifications, Irani shot back, "please go and file a PIL against me in court, I shall give you your answer in court to settle this once and for all," she said when asked which of the two poll affidavits she had filed in 2004 and 2014 was real.

New Delhi: The controversy over HRD Minister Smriti Irani's educational qualifications has taken a new turn with her assertion that she also has a degree from the prestigious Yale University in US.

Irani made the remark when pressed by a questioner at the India Today Woman Summit 2014 to clear the "mystery" over her educational degrees.

Irani was at the centre of a raging controversy over her educational qualifications after it emerged that she had made contradictory declarations when she contested the parliamentary polls in 2004 and 2014.

"In that kitty of mine where people call me 'anpad' (illiterate) I do have a degree from Yale University as well which I can bring out and show how Yale celebrated by leadership capabilities.

"Extraneous circumstances are being created so that I deviate my concentration from what my goals are," she said at the event. The BJP leader said she should be judged from what she delivers as a minister.

Irani did not explain what the Yale degree was but she was part of a group of Indian MPs which underwent a crash course at the Yale University.

The 11 Indian MPs came to the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut on June 19 last year to complete a six-day leadership program with Yale faculty.

The 2013 participants were drawn from five different national and regional political parties in India, and included Irani, who was BJP vice president at that time, and her TDP counterpart C Ramesh.

In addition to BJP and TDP, there were also representatives from the Congress, Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena.

In the academic program, the delegation participated in discussions with Yale faculty on nuclear non-proliferation; the democracy movement in the Arab world; women's empowerment; elections theory and practices; political and economic developments in China; campaign finance reform; the environmental impact of shale gas development; Afghanistan and Pakistan after 2014; pharmaceutical innovation and patent law; and climate change mitigation.

When pressed further at the 'India Today' event to clear the air over her educational qualifications, Irani shot back, "please go and file a PIL against me in court, I shall give you your answer in court to settle this once and for all," she said when asked which of the two poll affidavits she had filed in 2004 and 2014 was real.

As a candidate in 2004 elections from Chandni Chowk in Delhi, Irani had declared that she had a Bachelor of Arts(BA) 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 had said, "Bachelor of Commerce Part-1, School of Open Learning (Correspondence), University of Delhi-1994".

Reacting to Irani's Yale link, Congress asked why did she not mention this in her poll affidavit.