Challenge BJP to arrest me, else apologise to the people: Dy CM Sisodia

Office of the Deputy Chief Minister, Government of Delhi

Challenge BJP to arrest me, else apologise to the people: Dy CM Sisodia

• BJP doesn’t want children from poor families to receive high quality education: Dy CM Manish Sisodia

• After several CBI raids, I-T investigations if Manoj Tiwari accuses me of a scam, they should arrest me by evening, or apologise to the people: Dy CM Manish Sisodia

• Challenge BJP to compare ten schools of BJP model with ten schools of Kejriwal model of education: Dy CM Manish Sisodia

New Delhi: The Delhi chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Manoj Tiwari alleged a ₹ 2,000 crore scam in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools today. Delhi’s education reforms have achieved international acclaim and Deputy chief minister and education minister Manish Sisodia has been widely credited for turning around the state of government schools in Delhi.

Responding to the allegations of the BJP, Dy CM Manish Sisodia addressed a press conference today. He challenged the BJP today to arrest him if he has indeed committed a crime, instead of conducting press conferences on the issue. “If I am guilty of a ₹ 2,000 crore scam, then it is a matter of shame that I am roaming free. Instead of arresting me, you are conducting press conferences. The BJP controls the Delhi Police, the CBI, the ACB today – I challenge you, arrest me by evening or apologise to the people of Delhi.”

Reminding the BJP of the number of times various law enforcement agencies have been unleashed against the government and its Ministers, Dy CM Sisodia said, “The LG had seized 400 files of the Delhi government in 2017, but they could not find any wrongdoing. Education department files have been investigated for the last three years, but nothing was caught. They conducted a CBI inquiry against me, used the Income Tax department to harass us, but didn’t find anything against our government. But for petty political gains, the BJP is trying to stop the construction of classrooms in Delhi.”

“If Manoj Tiwari has lied to the people, he must apologise to the parents of children studying in Delhi’s government schools. Apologise to the auto wallahs, the domestic helps, whose children are now getting high quality education. Apologise to people living in Delhi’s slums, unauthorized colonies, whose children study in our schools,” he said.

Commenting on the BJP’s anti-poor politics, Dy CM Sisodia said, “Today, government schools of Delhi are providing the best quality education to the children of the poor, lower middle class families, who were so far deprived of education. Children of auto drivers, hawkers, are now getting 90%+ in Class 12, they are getting into IITs for the first time. The BJP doesn’t want this to happen.”

“Delhi’s government schools are serving children of poor migrants who have come to the city from Bihar, UP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh. The BJP is worried that if this class of people gets educated, it will destroy BJP’s politics. They would prefer that only the rich get access to high quality education, and the poor remain deprived. That’s why they are attempting to stop the work in Delhi,” he said

Reiterating his challenge to the BJP comparing the education models of the BJP and the Kejriwal government, Dy CM Sisodia said, “The BJP’s Working President had said the Delhi government has become a laughing stock. I had challenged him yesterday – your party runs governments in 16 states of the country, some have been under you for 15-20 years. I had asked him to pick any ten schools from any of the states where BJP is in power and compare with the top ten schools of the Kejriwal model. I am ready to visit your schools, and you can visit ours.”

Displaying images of Delhi government schools after the government’s infrastructure push, Dy CM Sisodia said, “These are the beautiful new classrooms that Delhi’s children now sit in. This is what Manoj Tiwari is opposing. (Turning to pictures of newly constructed toilets) They talk of Swachh Bharat, but want children to sit in schools without functional toilets. Little girls, female teachers have to suffer the stench of broken toilets in BJP-ruled states.”

Turning to pictures of libraries, corridors, buildings of government schools, Dy CM Sisodia said, “Can BJP show a single school where the classrooms, libraries are like this, where the teachers have been trained at internationally renowned institutions across the world, where the results are as spectacular as those of the Kejriwal model. Manoj Tiwari can travel across the country to BJP states and can’t find 10 schools that are like Delhi government schools.”

“The Delhi government is constructing Rainwater harvesting facilities, Sewage Treatment Plants, classrooms, corridors, staircases, toilets, libraries, laboratories. But the BJP is using the sanctioned cost of all of these facilities combined to calculate a per classroom cost. Imaginary and distorted figures cannot undermine our resolve to continue working on education, and will not undo the government’s reforms. Estimated costs are always calculated as per CPWD norms. But Manoj Tiwari doesn’t understand mathematics of construction or education,” said Dy CM Sisodia.

Accusing the BJP of fooling the people on education, Dy CM Sisodia said, “The BJP cannot match the Kejriwal model of education, and thats why they are running scared. Neither can you educate, nor can you be educated. And Manoj Tiwari has the courage to question Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia on education?”