Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Monday said he is ready to show his scholarship and loan sanction letters for his US education if Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes his degree public.
A Surat-based RTI activist had sought a probe into the finances of Dipke's father, a retired government employee who sent his son abroad for education.
"I am ready to disclose my scholarship letter and education loan letters. Will PM Modi show his degree," Dipke told reporters in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Dipke's remarks were apparently in response to demands by activists and political opponents, who have been seeking official verification and public inspection of university registries to check authenticity of Modi's degrees.
Dipke said he financed his US education through a scholarship from Boston University and an education loan.
He is a post-graduate in public relations from the College of Communication at Boston University, and returned to India in June this year.
"I have received a scholarship from Boston University for my education. I also availed an education loan for my studies there. It has to be repaid. Everyone is free to investigate," Dipke said.
"I am ready to show my letters of scholarship and education loan along with my degree. PM Modi should show his degree and make it public. If he does so, I am ready to make my documents public," Dipke said.
"Whenever people raise their voice against this government, they start sending the ED and CBI. Let them come to my home and investigate. I am ready to show my letters, but if the PM is sending ED, he should also send his degree and make it public," he said. "My degree is authentic and I expect that Modi's degree will also be authentic,'' he added.
To a query on whether CJP will become a political party, Dipke said, "I feel that media is disappointed with the existing political parties. We don't have any such intention (of forming a political party) as of now and want to keep it as a public movement for now." "What will we do by becoming a political party when votes are stolen? People are losing faith in politics because they vote for someone in the morning and someone else's government is formed in the evening," he said.
"MLAs and MPs jump from one party to another. When parties are broken by sending ED and CBI, what is the use of becoming a political party," Dipke said.
