New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi unit on Sunday demanded action against Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi after she said that officials from Kerala had visited to learn about ‘Delhi Model’ of education, which was refuted by Kerala Education Minister, reported news agency PTI.
Following the Education Minister’s remarks, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor sought clarification from Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia — who also holds the education portfolio — whether a delegation from Kerala had visited a Delhi government school or take action against their MLA for her “false” claims.
"It is surprising how Atishi can make such false claims violating state protocol for political gimmick," Kapoor said, quoted by the news agency.
Another Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said the "Delhi model" has been "exposed" with the Kerala education minister denying Atishi's claim.
Taking to Twitter, Kerala Education Minister, V Sivankutty wrote that no “officials” had visited Delhi to learn about the education model of the Kejriwal government as claimed by AAP MLA Atishi on Saturday.
On Saturday, MLA from Kalkaji constituency, Atishi had tweeted "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."
Retweeting Atishi’s tweet, Sivankutty commented, “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."
Later the Kalkaji MLA replied back to Sivankutty saying that he should check facts before tweeting anything as she never said that Kerala government officials visited Delhi.
She also shared the official press release of the Delhi government which specified the officials as “dignitaries” and “educationists”.
Giving a closure to the controversy, Sivankutty said that in this matter, "what we need is not controversy, but comradeship" adding that he made his position clear because Atishi had used "officers from Kerala" in her tweet.
The Education Minister also said that Kerala unit of Aam Aadmi Party has expressed its "regret" over the mistake.