Uproar in Delhi assembly after BJP says AAP closed several govt schools

Legislators of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday staged a walkout from the Delhi assembly following a furore over the alleged closure of schools by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government

Legislators of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday staged a walkout from the Delhi assembly following a furore over the alleged closure of schools by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.

BJP walks out of Delhi assembly over ‘closure of schools’, AAP dismisses allegation (PTI)

In a special mention under Rule 280, leader of opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri raised the issue of closure of Delhi government schools and claimed that a Sarvodaya school in Ludlow Castle has been shut.

“The government said the school has been shut with the consensus of the parents and the school management. The school, named after freedom struggle martyr Amir Chand, is being converted into the Delhi Sports University. By closing the school, the government is disrespecting a martyr. I urge the government to not close the school,” Bidhuri said.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, dismissed the allegations as baseless and said, “This is a false allegation by the leader of the opposition. The Kejriwal government believes in opening schools, not closing them.”

Sisodia alleged that Delhi Development Authority (DDA) land was deliberately given to private schools and not government ones. “The BJP, with the L-G, changed land use to pave the way for party headquarters building on land meant for schools.There has been a merger of two shifts in schools and it is being misled as closure of schools. We are going to start Delhi Sports University and they are saying we are closing schools. It was the BJP that closed hundreds of civic body schools,” he said.

Even after Sisodia’s reply, BJP legislators continued to protest in the house. Later, speaker Ram Niwas Goel ordered marshals to remove BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht from the house and the other BJP MLAs walked out in protest.

Goel said he will not take up BJP MLAs Rule 280 notices since they walked out of the house. The MLAs subsequently returned to the house after around an hour and proceedings continued.