BJP seeks action against AAP's Atishi over Kerala 'officials' visiting Delhi school claim
New Delhi(PTI): The BJP Sunday demanded action against AAP MLA Atishi over her "false" claim that "officials from Kerala" visited a school in Delhi to learn about the Kejriwal government's education model.
It comes after Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty said in a tweet that no "officials" from the state visited Delhi as claimed by Atishi on Saturday.
His tweet was in response to a post by Atishi, the MLA from Delhi's Kalkaji, who had said, "It was wonderful to host officials from Kerala at one of our schools in Kalkaji. They were keen to understand and implement our education model in their state. This is @ArvindKejriwal Govt's idea of nation building. Development through collaboration."
Sivankutty replied to her tweet, saying, "Kerala's Dept of Education has not sent anyone to learn about the 'Delhi Model'. At the same time, all assistance was provided to officials who had visited from Delhi to study the 'Kerala Model' last month. We would like to know which 'officials' were welcomed by the AAP MLA."
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor demanded Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, to clarify whether any official delegation of Kerala had visited a Delhi government school on Saturday or take action against Atishi for her "false" claim.
"It is surprising how Atishi can make such false claims violating state protocol for political gimmick," Kapoor said.
Another Delhi BJP spokesperson, Harish Khurana, said "Delhi model" has been "exposed" with Kerala education minister denying claim of Atishi.
Responding to the Kerala education minister's tweet, Atishi said it would have been good if he had done a "fact-check" before tweeting.
"Dear Sivankutty ji, It would have been good if you had done a fact check before tweeting on this issue. You might want to have a look at our press release to see what we actually said!," she tweeted on Sunday, sharing the press release issued by her office the day before.
She also told reporters that nowhere in the press release it was stated that Kerala "government officials" had come to see Delhi model of education.
"I want to request the (Kerala) minister to check facts before tweeting. Had he had seen our press release, it would have been clear to him that we did not say anywhere that government officials came. WE have clearly stated that Kerala CBSE school management officials came," she told reporters when asked for her comment.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar School of Specialised Excellence, Kalkaji, was visited yesterday by Mr. Victor T.I, Regional Secy of CBSE School Management Association and Dr. M. Dinesh Babu, Confederation of Kerala Sahodaya Complexes https://t.co/pg5Pvbv6Ce
— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) April 24, 2022
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
