Raajneeti team debates on Aaj Kal Ke Raajneeti

As its suggest, the movie Raajneeti of director Prakash Jha is all about elections, democracy and politics in India. It revolves around the present elections situation in India. Now, the movie is gearing up to release in June and stars of the film Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kapoor, Arjun Ramapal, Ajay Devgn, Manoj Bajpei and Nassiruddin Shah seem to have taken the election topic to promote Raajneeti.

As a part of the promotion of the movie, Raajneeti crew was here in Bangalore on Monday (May 10). Along with Prakash Jha, stars Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Manoj Bajpei and screenplay writer Anjum Rajabali took part in the a debate on 'Aaj Kal Ke Raajneeti' held at Brigade Millenium convention hall in Bangalore.

The topic of the debate was should it be made mandatory for an MLA/MP to have a graduation? Manoj Bajpei, Anjum Rajabali and Raju Gowda, the Professor of IIM stated that a graduation should be made compulsory for an MLA/MP, while Prakash Jha, Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kapoor argued them and proved that this idea will snatch away the chance of a common man from involving in political activities.

The debate was sponsored and organised by TV channel Star News. Deepak Chaurasia hosted this debate show. His very appearance on the show brought the hot atmosphere of the debate. He gave the first chance to argue to Katrina Kaif, who spoke against having graduation. Here are the brief statements of the both pro and against teams.

Katrina Kaif said: “First of all let me tell you that I haven"t done graduation. I don"t think it should be appropriate to make it mandatory that a person, who wants to become MLA/MP, should obtain a degree because there are several politicians in Indian history, who have achieved a lot without having a graduation. So I think what one needs to take part in politics is that he/she must have dedication and passion to bring about a change in the existing political system."

Professor Raju Gowda argued her and said: “A person, who wins the MLA/MP election, will sit in the Assembly/Parliament and discuss the serious issues of the state/country. If he needs to sort out a particular problem, he must have historical sense to do it. He must read the books about same issues written by experts and understand them thoroughly before looking into the present issue. Otherwise he lands up at a solution, which will not be applicable for all the people of all the ages. That"s why I strongly feel that degree should be made compulsory for an MLA/MP."

Director Prakash Jha opined: “Let me tell you first that I'm not against degree holder entering politics. It"s good that he/she will be able to make a strong rule with his knowledge. But I don"t agree with the professor. A person does not necessarily need to have degree or historical sense to address a particular problem. If he has practical experience and elementary education, he can use his common sense and solve any issue. Moreover, this right is given to everyone by the Indian Constitution. If you make it mandatory then you are going to snatch the rights of a common man, who grows rice and serve this country. So degree should not be made compulsory."

Anjum Rajabali counter argued him and said: “Politics is not only about growing rice, but it is also about the managing the rice grown throughout the state/country. He needs to understand how to gather it, store it and serve it according to the need of the people. This managing skill can be acquired by a person only when he/she has adequate knowledge about the past and has vision about the future. The person, who has done a graduation will have necessary theoretical knowledge about the various consequences and he will manage a particular situation."

Ranbir Kapoor said: “I agree with the idea of Katrina. Like her, I"ve also not done graduation in any stream. Moreover, 70% of the Indian population is staying in rural part of the country and they don"t have a facility to get higher education. If degree is made compulsory, most of them will be out of politics, which is not fair according to the constitution. There are several instances that learned people have failed to govern the state/country and many graduate MLA/MPs have involved in corruption and big scams. That"s why I staunchly disagree with the idea that MLA/MP should have graduation.?

Manoj Bajpei said: “There are spheres of life, which every common can manage them. There are ministries like Aviation, Foreign, Finance, Commerce and other technology-related areas, which are even difficult to be handled by learned men. In such a situation, how a person with elementary education will make policies about Aviation, Foreign affairs and Commerce. So a degree is a must for him to become an MLA/MP."

Both the groups went on making arguments and counter arguments. Even audience also took part in the debate and made their arguments. But finally, Prakash Jha concluded the debate with a note: “We're not at all against having degree. Our argument is that common man should not be turned away from his fundamental rights. He should also be included in political activities until India will become 100% literate country. We can"t compare India with England because every kid in England will be provided with free elementary education by the government, where as in India, we don"t have schools in many rural areas. In such case, how can you expect them to get a degree? Indian Constitution has given equal rights to both common man and a graduate. The right should not intervened by anyone."

What is your opinion? Is a graduation necessary to become an MLA/MP or not? Write your opinions and comments bellow.