Guwahati: Arvind Kejriwal asked Himanta Biswa Sarma when he should visit Assam to view the schools as the Twitter fight between the chief ministers of Assam and Delhi continued on Saturday.
After Kejriwal tweeted on Wednesday that closing schools is not a solution and that more schools need to be opened nationwide, and shared a link to a news article alleging the closure of several schools in Assam, an altercation between the two leaders broke out online.
In the last three days, there have been verbal clashes between the two CMs.
On Saturday, the AAP supremo tweeted in Hindi, “There is a saying we have — If someone asks ‘When should I come’ and they say ‘Come whenever you can’, then it means ‘Don’t come ever’. I had asked you — ‘When should I come to see your government schools’, you didn’t tell me. Tell me, when should I come, only then I can come.”
His fresh tweet came in response to the remarks made by Sarma on Friday on the microblogging site. In a series of tweets, he had shared some of the differences between Delhi and Assam, mocking Kejriwal. “Dear @ArvindKejriwal Ji, Your ignorance is painful. Let me help you. Assam is 50 times bigger than Delhi! Our 44521 govt schools teach 65 lakh students – against your 1000+ odd schools. Our army of dedicated teachers number 2+ lakh; Midday meal workers 1.18 lakh. Fathom it?” he tweeted.
In another tweet, Sarma said, “And yes, when you’re in Assam, which you so desperately wish to, I will take you to our Medical Colleges, 1000 times better than your Mohalla Clinic. Also meet our bright Govt school teachers and students.” He added in Hindi “quit bothering about making India no.1, Modiji is doing that”. Sarma had taken to Twitter on Thursday to lash out at Kejriwal over the amalgamation of schools and asked him to “do his homework” before commenting.
“Dear @ArvindKejriwal Ji-as usual you commented on something without any homework! Since my days as Education Minister till now, please note, the Assam government has established/taken over 8,610 new schools,” he said in another tweet.
He had also asked how many schools did the Delhi government start in the last seven years. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief had responded to Sarma’s tweet on Friday. “Oh, it seems you took offence. My intention was not to point out your faults. All of us are one country. We have to learn from each other, then only India will become the number one country,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
He further said he is willing to visit Assam and asked Sarma when he should go to the northeastern state. “You show me your good work in the field of education. You come to Delhi, I will show you the work in Delhi,” he said.