AAP MLA Atishi's 'Kerala officials visit Delhi' tweet sparks row, BJP seeks action

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor has demanded DyCM Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, to clarify whether any official delegation of Kerala had visited a Delhi government school on Saturday.

New Delhi: The BJP has 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.

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

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.