Twitter War: Assam CM slams Arvind Kejriwal for comparing Delhi with NE states

Taking pot shots on each other over whose education model is functioning as an inspiration for the world, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma again took a dig on his Delhi counterpart saying that Kejriwal is unnecessarily comparing Delhi with smaller cities like Assam and other NE states.

“You came to power with a promise to make Delhi like London and Paris, don’t you remember? @ArvindKejriwal. As you could not do anything, then you started comparing Delhi with the smaller cities like Assam and the Northeast! Believe me, if BJP gets a city and resources like Delhi, then the party will make it the most prosperous city in the world,” wrote Himanta Biswa Sarma on Twitter.

The Twitter spat between the two chief ministers have been growing in the past few days, after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted on Wednesday, “Closing schools is not the solution. We need to open many new schools all over the country. Instead of closing schools, improve the school and provide better education.”

The tweet drew a sharp response from senior BJP leader and Assam chief minister Sarma who claimed that Kejriwal had skipped ‘homework’ before commenting. He also asked how many new schools were established by the Kejriwal government in Delhi. 

“Dear @ArvindKejriwal JI. – As usual you commented on something without any homework! Since my days as Edu Minister, till now, please note, Assam Govt has established/taken over 8610 NEW SCHOOLS; break-up below. How many new schools Delhi Government has started in the last 7 yrs?” Sarma said.
Sarma also listed numbers related to schools that the Assam government had taken into its fold. “Provincialisation or taking over pvt schools into govt fold since 2013: Elementary 6802; Secondary 1589 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya:81 Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Avashik Vidyalaya:3 Adarsha Vidyalaya:38 Tea Garden Model School:97 Curious to know Delhi’s figures!” Sarma added.

“Sarma should show the fantastic job being done in the field of education,” AAP leader Kejriwal said, adding that he could demonstrate Sarma the work AAP government is doing. Kejriwal later clarified that he did not mean to emphasise the "flaws" in the Assam model of education.

For the unversed, the state government of Assam has been receiving mixed reactions on the decision to close schools that have fared poorly in this year’s Class 10 examination. 
A total of 34 schools are facing an uncertain future after the state government of Assam decided that ‘schools showing zero percentage results in the last HSLC examinations should be amalgamated/merged with other schools by August this year.

At a review meeting held on July 17, 2022, the Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma ordered the Department of Secondary Education that schools with zero percentage in the HSLC examination shall face punitive action. The Secondary Education Department has already started the process of school amalgamation following the CM’s order.

There will be mergers/amalgamations of seven government/provincialized schools in the Karbi Anglong district, five in the Cachar district, two in the Jorhat district, one in the West Karbi Anglong district, two each in the Dhubri, Goalpara, Lakhimpur, and Nagaon districts, and one in each of the following districts that is Chirang, Darrang, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Kamrup, Kokrajhar and Nalbari