Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) on Monday raised doubts on the D. Litt degree held by BJP Bihar unit president Samrat Choudhary, called it suspicious and gave him a 72-hour ultimatum to come clean over the issue.
The JDU also questioned the change of his name over the last two decades.
“Choudhary claims everywhere and even in the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission that he holds a D. Litt degree from the California Public University. When did he study there? What did he study? When and how was the degree awarded to him? Everything about this degree is suspicious,” JDU chief spokesperson and member of legislative council (MLC) Neeraj Kumar said.
Neeraj and JDU MLA Rajiv Kumar Singh addressed media persons at the state party headquarters in Patna on Monday. They said that Choudhary did not mention his roll number, the degree’s registration number and the year he received the degree in his poll affidavit.
“The state BJP chief’s name is registered as Rakesh Kumar in 2005 poll affidavits. It becomes Rakesh Kumar alias Samrat Choudhary in 2010 election affidavits and just Samrat Choudhary in 2020 affidavits. When did he change his name? Under what name did he take admission in the California Public University and what is the name mentioned on his degree? We give him 72 hours to provide detailed clarifications,” Neeraj said.
The JDU MLC asserted that the questions pertained to Choudhary’s political credit or honour and he should provide all information.
Choudhary, 54, was appointed the Bihar BJP president in March this year. He hails from the same caste group from which chief minister Nitish Kumar hails, and his appointment was seen as the BJP’s move to cut into the JDU votes in the coming elections.
Prior to joining the BJP, Choudhary had been with Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the JDU.
Choudhary also addressed media persons on Monday and said that the JDU was raising non-issues.
“The entire country knows that my name is Samrat Choudhary alias Rakesh Kumar. My nickname is Rakesh Kumar. As far as the D. Litt degree is concerned, the California Public University awarded it to me as an honorary degree in 2019. This information is already in the public domain, but I will definitely provide the details to the JDU,” the Bihar BJP president said.
