The Aam Aadmi Party and its Delhi government are having an embarrassing time after it was called out by a Kerala Minister for serving unfettered lies on social media platforms. Reportedly, A-lister AAP leader Atishi Marlena in a tweet on Saturday claimed that officials from Kerala had visited Delhi government schools to understand Delhi’s education model. However, a day later, the Kerala government busted AAP and Atishi’s lies by denying sending any officials on such a visit to Delhi.
Atishi Marlena in a tweet had remarked, “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 Arvind Kejriwal’s government’s idea of nation-building. Development through collaboration.”
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 pic.twitter.com/FosI9KTKDW— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) April 23, 2022
Similarly, AAP through its official Twitter account had also posted, “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,”
Kerala Minister clears AAP’s lies
However, Kerala’s Minister for Education & Labour, Kerala, V Sivankutty denying the visit clarified as saying, “Dignitaries from Kerala visit Delhi Govt Schools to witness the education revolution first-hand; say didn’t expect facilities to be THIS GOOD! Impressed by Kejriwal Govt’s Happiness classes, educationists express the desire to implement it in Kerala,”
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. https://t.co/Lgh6nM7yL9
— V. Sivankutty (@VSivankuttyCPIM) April 24, 2022
Atishi Marlena doubles down on her lies
When called out and feeling mortified, Atishi Marlena resorted to building upon her lies. She once again tweeted the name of the schools that the officials visited, “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”
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
It was clear through Atishi’s clarification tweet that none of the officials were from the Kerala government, albeit they were from the non-government institutions such as CBSE and Sahodaya complexes. AAP leaders clearly did not understand the demarcation and attempted to impose its superiority on Kerala.
In a follow-up tweet, Atishi Marlena continued with her petulance and urged the Kerala Minister for a fact-check before tweeting and attached the Delhi government press statement for what was said, “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!”
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! https://t.co/TAUo1zcX8N pic.twitter.com/ymV8zHJzsZ
— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) April 24, 2022
A final clarification from the Kerala Minister
In the last tweet, V Sivankutty gave a point-by-point rebuttal to Atishi Marlena and further rubbed in on the misery of AAP. He tweeted, “My position regarding the current controversy has already been made clear. “Officers from Kerala is the phrase that has been used in your tweet in response to which I clarified that the officers were not sent from Kerala government Realising the mistake, the Kerala unit of the Aam Aadmi Party has expressed regret (screenshot attached with post)”
Sivankutty further added, “I would like to clarify that no association can take decisions on matters concerning education in Kerala. It is the people’s government that is entrusted with that responsibility,”
Comradeship, not controversy.@AtishiAAP @AAPDelhi pic.twitter.com/jBucvDXhdD
— V. Sivankutty (@VSivankuttyCPIM) April 25, 2022
Kerala government busts Kejriwal’s PR propaganda
The left government of Kerala embarrassing AAP has come as a major shocker to Kejriwal who has been working around the clock to promote the model to other state CMs. By doing such propaganda, Kejriwal is attempting to create an image that his education model is the best in the country.
Earlier this month, the Delhi CM had hosted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and escorted him to the government schools and Mohalla clinics to showcase the supposed Delhi model of development.
The lies told by Kejriwal regarding his Education model
However, as reported extensively by TFI, the Delhi education model is a fancy mirage that has been sold by the AAP government to the public. The government schools do not have adequate headmasters while the private school fees are touching new highs after Deputy CM Manish Sisodia allowed them to increase the fees willy-nilly.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in its field survey found that out of 1027 government schools in Delhi only 203 schools have a headmaster or principal. The 824 posts for the headmaster were vacant in the government. The commission further revealed many other discrepancies in infrastructure were also found during the visit.
NCPCR says only 203 out of 1,027 govt schools in Delhi have a headmaster or principal; seeks explanation
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 12, 2022
In its Budget 2022-23, 23.5 per cent of its total expenditure was allocated to education. The net expenditure of the Delhi government is Rs 71,085 crores, out of which Rs 15,507 crores has been given in the name of education.
By reading the 23.5 per cent of budget share it can be predicted that the Delhi government spends about one-fourth of its budget on education. But there is a catch, out of the total budget allocated for education only Rs 3,485 crores go towards government primary schools. The rest of the budget allocated for the education sector is spent on sports, Arts and Culture. It means only 4.90 per cent of the total Delhi budget is spent on Primary Education.
Read More: Delhi’s education model: Private schools too expensive, government schools too shabby
AAP is not a political party, albeit a big advertising organisation that only attempts to get its way by tooting its own horn. However, when called out in the public eye, it resorts to doubling down on its lies. This is not the first time that AAP has been caught with its pants down and it certainly won’t be the last.
