Irani (38) made the remark when pressed by a questioner at a summit in New Delhi to clear the ‘mystery’ over her educational degrees. Soon after the Lok Sabha results were announced on 16 May, 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 elections in 2004 and 2014.
‘In that kitty of mine where people call me ‘anpad’ I do have a degree from Yale University as well which I can bring out and show how Yale celebrated my leadership capacities. ‘Extraneous circumstances are being created so that I deviate my concentration from what my goals are,’ she said at the event on Saturday. 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, during which the elections in India, the prospects for Afghanistan and Pakistan after the US military withdrawal in 2014, the implications of political and economic transitions in China dominated. When pressed further to clear the air over her educational qualifications, Irani told the questioner to file a PIL if he wanted to know the truth about the poll affidavit controversy.