AAP leader Manish Sisodia accepts Gujarat BJP chief CR Paatil 's invite to visit state schools

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia on Thursday accepted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Gujarat President CR Paatil's challenge to visit the government-run school of the poll-bound state. Accepting Patil's invitation, Sisodia said that he would definitely go and see Gujarat government's schools, but wanted to begin with state Education Minister's constituency.

Manish Sisodia stated, "I hope that CR Paatil will not step back from his invitation to show us government schools of Gujarat and will fix the date soon. The BJP could fix only 73 government schools in Gujarat over the past 27 years; at this rate, it will take 15,000 years for BJP to fix and upgrade 40,800 government schools all across Gujarat. CM Arvind Kejriwal has made the Delhi Government Schools world-class in just 5 years; now people want his model in Gujarat too. They don't want to wait for 15,000 years to get Gujarat government schools fixed. This rubbish plan of BJP is not acceptable to the Gujarat public; they believe that if Kejriwal can make the Delhi government schools world-class in 5 years, then he can do the same in Gujarat too."

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Manish Sisodia said, "Election season is at its peak and I am happy that ‘education’ is an agenda for political discussions in Gujarat now. Whenever Kejriwal and I visit Gujarat these days, people show us schools around the state. They show us government schools with crumbling structures and no facilities for their children. They tell us that BJP has never focused on schools in the past 27 years, because of which a large population of children is deprived of education, forget quality education." Sisodia further added that the AAP government, under the leadership of CM Arvind Kejriwal, fixed Delhi government schools in 5 years and they (BJP) could fix only 73 Gujarat government schools in 27 years.

Earlier in the day, Paatil took a jibe at AAP and said that some people are coming from outside Gujarat and saying that the BJP government has not built schools in Gujarat, but the truth is BJP has installed smart boards in 73 government primary schools in Surat.

Responding to the same, Sisodia said, "At first I felt happy that BJP has fixed and upgraded 73 government schools in Surat because of public fear. They also installed smart boards in them. But I felt sad too that BJP could fix only 73 government schools in Gujarat despite having ample time of 27 years. If we calculate this, Gujarat currently has 40,800 government schools and with this rate of work, it will take 15,000 years for BJP to fix all government schools in Gujarat. This is not acceptable to the people of Gujarat. They want government schools for their children to be fixed in 5 years."

"If we are talking about schools, then I would like to say that this is the rubbish formula of the BJP and is of no use to the people of Gujarat. The public of Gujarat wants the government schools in the state to be fixed in 5 years, not in thousands of years as the BJP claims. They don't want to wait for thousands of years, the AAP leader said further.

He also added that now the public of Gujarat is believing in the work of Arvind Kejriwal. "They now believe that if Arvind Kejriwal can make Delhi government schools world-class in 5 years, then he can bring the same education revolution in Gujarat too. Now only the AAP government can make Gujarat government schools world-class and provide quality education to every child," Sisodia claimed.

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While sharing the pictures of Gujarat government schools from Chhota Udaipur, Bharuch, Kheda Village, Panchmahal, Bhavnagar and other places across the state, Sisodia said that after keeping the government schools in such a bad condition during their reign for 27 years, now BJP is boasting that their government has fixed 73 government schools and installed smart boards in them. "This is not acceptable to the Gujarat public. Now they want their schools to be fixed in 5 years," he added.

"BJP Gujarat President has invited me to visit Gujarat government schools and see the facilities in them. I accept his invitation and want him to fix the date soon. We will start with the constituency of Gujarat's Education Minister Jitubhai Vaghani and then proceed to see other government schools too. In return, I also want to invite him to visit Delhi and see our school too. I hope that he will not step back from his statement and fix a date soon to show me Gujarat government schools," the AAP leader said.