By now, everyone knows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational qualifications have come under a scanner. Thanks to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Right to Information query, the Central Information Commission has directed the Prime Minister's Office to provide the "specific roll number and year" of Modi's degrees from Delhi University and Gujarat University.
Against this backdrop, a video clip (above) circulating on social media has been seized on by many to establish that Modi himself has admitted to having only passed Class Ten. In truth, that's not what he said. The clip has been truncated to make it seem that way.
In this old interview, well before he became the Prime Minister, Modi starts off by saying he is not very educated, and then clarifies to the astonished host Rajiv Shukla that he finished high school before leaving his home. The clips is cut off abruptly, to suggest that's the end of the story.
The entire interview (video below) tells a different story. Modi explains that he got his undergraduate and graduate degrees as an external student. (Also, that he came first.)
Of course, this doesn't settle the controversy. But it does establish that, contrary to belief, Modi has not made any admission of failing to have moved beyond Class Ten.
In his election affidavits, Modi has mentioned that he completed his undergraduate degree through a distance learning programme from Delhi University in 1978, and, later, his MA from Gujarat University in 1983. Although Gujarat university has issued statements supporting that claim, there are allegedly no details available, according to this report.
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