Odisha Congress shames MP over educational qualifications

Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Anubhav Mohanty has landed in a soup after Congress, Sunday, accused him of submitting false affidavit about his educational qualifications during 2014 Rajya Sabha election.

The Congress alleged that Mohanty, who has been elected from Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency in 2019 polls, submitted a false affidavit during the 2014 Rajya Sabha election.

Anubhav had been elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2014.

“Anubhav Mohanty had mentioned having completed his Bachelor degree of Arts from Shobhit Institute of Engineering and Technology, Meerut. But as per the information obtained from Utkal University through Right To Information (RTI) Act, Anubhav is still a student of Kandarpur College in Cuttack,” said Congress leader Nishikanta Mishra.

He said the BJD MP has not taken any migration certificate from Utkal University, which is necessary for admission to another university.

He also said that Union HRD Ministry, in its affidavit before Supreme Court in 2010, had mentioned about derecognition of Shobhit University.

“If the university was already derecognised, how could Anubhav Mohanty study there?” questioned Mishra.

The Congress leader demanded Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to take action against the MP for submitting false certificate before the Election Commission of India.

Responding to the charges made by the Congress party, the actor-turned Parliamentarian issued his written statement against the accusations. In his long written statement the MP did not clarify on the education and degree row at any point but attacked the Congress party accusing them of  running a deliberate and malicious campaign against him.

He said, “The Congress is losing its political relevance in Odisha now and have been badly defeated in Kendrapara. Instead of expressing their frustration and desperation by making such concocted and baseless allegations against me, they should focus on introspecting about their continual decline as a party,”