In election season, it gave fodder to Congress, which called it an insult to “Bhopal’s jamai” since Jaya Bachchan hails from this city.
Chouhan was trying to inspire students of Class XII who scored less than 70%. After talking about Kalidas, the poet who once tried to cut the very branch he was sitting on, the CM went on to mention Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who shunned formal schooling, and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who fared poorly in exams.
But he added George W Bush, who, in fact, is a Harvard graduate and the only US President to have an MBA, and Amitabh Bachchan, who is an alumnus of Sherwood College and Kirorimal College.
“You all must have heard of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, the one who hosts Kaun Banega Crorepati. He did not have any good formal education degrees. He was once rejected by Akashvani due to his voice, but today he is famous because of his voice,” the CM said at the career counselling programme. Urging students not to lose hope, he said: “If you keep your spirit high, like these icons, and make them your inspiration, you will never need to get good marks.”
The CM's motivational speech was lost on Congress, which seized on the slip-up.
Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh said: “It is an insult to Bhopal’s son-in-law. I don’t understand why the CM is giving such statements. Chouhan was in kindergarten when Amitabh Bachchan was working as a professional.”