The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has slammed those making the educational qualifications of various political leaders a ‘political issue’ at a time when the country faces bigger problems that need attention. Pawar’s statement came at a time when his former Maha Vikas Aghadi partner Uddhav Thackeray and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been demanding proof of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational qualifications.

Pawar termed the debate as a waste of time and said Opposition’s focus should be on more critical issues like unemployment, law and order and inflation, which the country is facing today.

“Should anyone’s educational degree be a political issue in the country when we are facing unemployment, law and order and inflation?” Pawar said on Sunday.

“Today, differences are being created among people in the name of religion and caste. Crops have been destroyed due to unseasonal rains in Maharashtra. Discussions are necessary on these issues,” the veteran politician added.

Recently, the Gujarat High Court fined Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal Rs 25,000 for bringing up the matter when the information was already available in the public domain. Following that, AAP has raised a battle pitch on the issue and launched a “show your degree” campaign challenging BJP leaders to put their educational qualifications in the public domain.

Last week, Thackeray also asked, “What is the problem in showing a degree?… Why doesn’t that college want to share Modi’s degree?… Which college doesn’t want to come out to feel proud of the fact that their college is where the Prime Minister studied”.

Pawar’s statement came a day after he dismissed the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for probing the Adani row, raising speculation about rising cracks in Opposition unity.

The Congress and other opposition parties have been demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) investigation into the Adani-Hindenburg row.

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