‘When should I come to see your Assam schools’: Twitter spat between Arvind Kejriwal and Himanta Biswa Sarma escalates
The Twitter spat between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma stretched on to the third day on Saturday (August 27, 2022) with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief asking his counterpart when should he come to see the schools of the northeastern state. The exchange of words between the two leaders began online after Kejriwal had on Wednesday tweeted that the closure of schools is not a solution and there is a need to open more schools across the country. Delhi CM tweeted this along with a link to a news report claiming a “closure” of some schools in Assam.
Taking to Twitter, the Delhi Cm said in Hindi: “There is a saying we have — If someone asks ‘When should I come’ and they say ‘Come whenever you can’, then it means ‘Don’t come ever’. I had asked you — ‘When should I come to see your government schools’, you didn’t tell me. Tell me, when should I come, only then I can come.”
Both Kejriwal and Sarma have exchanged several virtual verbal volleys in the past three days. Kejriwal’s fresh tweet came after Sarma on Friday hit out at the Delhi CM and shared some of the differences between Delhi and Assam.
“Dear @ArvindKejriwal Ji, Your ignorance is painful. Let me help you. Assam is 50 times bigger than Delhi! Our 44521 govt schools teach 65 lakh students – against your 1000 odd schools. Our army of dedicated teachers number 2 lakh; Midday meal workers 1.18 lakh. Fathom it?” Sarma tweeted.
In another tweet, Sarma said, “And yes, when you’re in Assam, which you so desperately wish to, I will take you to our Medical Colleges, 1000 times better than your Mohalla Clinic. Also, meet our bright Govt school teachers and students.”
Earlier, on Thursday, Assam CM had slammed Kejriwal over the amalgamation of schools and asked him to “do his homework” before commenting.
“Dear @ArvindKejriwal Ji-as usual you commented on something without any homework! Since my days as Education Minister till now, please note, the Assam government has established/taken over 8,610 new schools,” he had tweeted.
In a series of tweet, Sarma had also asked how many schools did the Delhi government start in the last seven years.
Earlier, Kejriwal had responded to Sarma’s tweet on Friday. “Oh, it seems you took offense. My intention was not to point out your faults. All of us are one country. We have to learn from each other, then only India will become the number one country,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
He further said he is willing to visit Assam and asked Sarma when should he go to the northeastern state.
“You show me your good work in the field of education. You come to Delhi, I will show you the work in Delhi,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sarma had claimed that since his tenure as the education minister, the state government has, from 2,013 till now, provincialised or taken over private schools into the government fold and this includes 6,802 elementary and 1,589 secondary schools, 81 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, three Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Avashik Vidyalaya and 97 tea garden model schools.
