Responding to allegation that he is still studying at the state-run Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) even at 30, firebrand student leader Kanhaiya Kumar today said he is at least pursing his research at that age, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi finished his MA at 35.

"Modi ji did his MA at 35. At least I am doing my PhD at 30," Kanhaiya said in the session titled 'Future of Identity Politics' at the annual India Today Conclave 2018 in Mumbai, moderated by Managing Editor Rahul Kanwal.

Kanhaiya was part of the 'young Turks' panel, which also included Patidar leader from Gujarat, Hardik Patel, Kumar's colleague at JNU, Shehla Rashid, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) leader Rohit Chahal, and columnist Shubhrastha.

Kanhaiya Kumar and Shehla Rashid, student leaders at JNU who have been consistently opposing the BJP government at the Centre, have often been charged with continuing their education using the "tax-payer's money" at a premier university.

Shubhrastha, who denied she is a member of the BJP but admitted her sympathies lie with the party, had repeated the same charge aimed at the duo at the India Today Conclave.

Shortly after he was released on bail following his arrest on sedition charges, Kanhaiya in May 2016 had said, "Questions are being raised about taxpayers money being spent on us and why our PhDs are taking so long and subsidies being given to us. So it has now become more of a political responsibility on me than being an academic mandate."

In her reply to Shubhrastha, Kanhaiya added that he has duly filed his tax returns this year and his tax records can be accessed from the Income Tax department.

Angry over the charges of taxpayers' money being spent on their education, Shehla Rashid said, "Let me first tell you that we all pay a lot of tax through GST... I also want to tell the people who make such arguments. Why carry the charade of running universities when history is being changed and Darwin's theory being rejected by BJP ministers? Why not shut down universities and turn them into shakhas?"

CONTROVERSY OVER MODI'S DEGREE

Prime Minister Modi's education qualification has been a matter of controversy, with many in the opposition asking him to produce his documents. Multiple Right to Information (RTI) applications have so far been filed in both Delhi and Gujarat universities, where Modi did his BA and MA respectively.

In 2016, after the Central Information Commissioner (CIC) asked the Gujarat and Delhi universities to provide details of Modi's degrees, the Gujarat University produced a marksheet that showed he had scored 62.3 per cent in MA in political science as an external candidate in 1983.

Modi, was 32 then, not 35, as claimed by Kanhaiya.

Modi's BA degree from Delhi University, however, has been shrouded in a massive mystery. Earlier this year, DU told the Delhi High Court that it cannot share the exam records of students who had pursued BA in 1978, the year in which the varsity claims Modi had graduated.

I did my PhD at 30, while PM Modi did his MA at 35: Kanhaiya Kumar