Fact Check: Is BJP's Tajinder Pal Bagga Pursuing Course From China?

BJP’s Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga is in news again, this time not for any controversial statement or poster but due his educational qualifications. BJP’s Hari Nagar candidate for upcoming Delhi Assembly Elections, Bagga was heavily trolled on Twitter for his educational degrees or rather lack of them. Several people claimed that Bagga was a school drop-out and was pursuing a course from China. Old tweets of him slamming others for not attending schools also surfaced online. Extremely popular on the social media, Bagga didn’t issue any clarification on the subject. But news Nation decided to check the authenticity of the claims made on social media.

Turns out, for once, the tweets are actually stating the truth. Bagga is indeed a school dropout. The details of his educational qualifications emerged online after he field his nomination for the Delhi polls. According to the affidavit filed by Bagga, a copy of which is with News Nation, the Delhi BJP leader has stated the ‘Bachelor Preparatory Programme’ as his highest degree.

Those who don’t know, the course is offered by the Indira Gandhi National Open University for candidates who wish to pursue Bachelor’s degree but don’t have any formal schooling. There is no minimum qualification required. So, the claim of Bagga being school drop-out is correct.

The second claim about course from China is also true. In his poll affidavit, Bagga has said that he had completed a ‘Diploma’ from Republic of China Taiwan in 2017. According to the official record, Bagga completed diploma course in ‘National Development COurse’ at National Defence University.

BJP's rivals often accuse Bagga, who has over 6.4 lakh followers, of being a "Twitter troll". Fighting for Hari Nagar, Bagga said he will release a constituency-specific manifesto for the February 8 election and has promised to install a "smog tower" in the area if he wins. "Hari Nagar Vidhansabha will be the first Vidhansabha in Delhi which will release their own Manifesto.  We will Install Smog Tower in Hari Nagar Vidhanasabha in First 60 days of My Victory. #PolllutionFreeHariNagar," he tweeted.

Bagga started his career with Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena, which calls itself a "nationalist task force against traitors, anti-nationals and corrupts".He grabbed headlines in October 2011 when he openly acknowledged he slapped lawyer-activist and then AAP leader Bhushan for his remarks on Kashmir and called the assault "Operation Prashant Bhushan".