New Delhi: HRD minister Smriti Irani's solo run in the ministry came to an abrupt end with Prime Minister Narendra Modi bringing in two MoS, one of them a former RSS pracharak.
The two, include former RSS pracharak Ram Shankar Katheria and Upendra Kushwaha.
With Irani, conspicuous by her absence at the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday, and the appointment of Katheria, a professor and Kushwaha, a lecturer, has the RSS finally had its way on pushing their educational reform agenda in the HRD Ministry? Through this appointment the RSS hopes to ensure that historical figures from the organisation are not ignored in school and college curriculum, and history books not distorted.
Also, is this a bid to bury the controversy related to Irani's educational qualifications to head the ministry? Irani made contradictory claims in her affidavits filed before the electoral authorities for the parliamentary elections in 2004 and 2014.
In 2004 elections from Chandni Chowk in Delhi, Irani had declared she had a Bachelor of Arts degree. In the 2014 elections, which she contested from Amethi, Irani's affidavit said, "Bachelor of Commerce Part-1, School of Open Learning (Correspondence), University of Delhi-1994".
