Slugfest erupts between Delhi govt, AAP over stray dogs issue

AAP leader and MLA Sanjeev Jha claimed that an order issued on November 20 by the government’s directorate of education assigned the duties of monitoring and counting stray dogs to teachers.

A slugfest erupted between the Delhi government and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday, particularly on the stray dogs issue. The government accused AAP of spreading “falsehood and fake propaganda” against it, even as AAP leaders doubled down on the accusation that teachers were being asked to count stray dogs.

(HT Archive)

On Monday, the government had issued a clarification saying that it had not assigned teachers any definitive role of counting stray dogs on the back of a Supreme Court order in the issue last month. This came after a section of teachers’ associations expressed apprehension they were going to be roped into to carry out non-administrative duties like counting stray dogs. In an official statement, the government dismissed it as “misinformation”.

But, on Tuesday, in a post on X, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government of “insulting teachers” and “ruining schools”.

“Will teachers in Delhi’s government schools teach children, or will they count dogs on the streets instead? This order from the BJP’s Delhi government exposes their thinking and priorities. For the BJP, education is not even an issue,” he said.

At a press conference later, AAP leader and MLA Sanjeev Jha claimed that an order issued on November 20 by the government’s directorate of education assigned the duties of monitoring and counting stray dogs to teachers.

“Not only the notification, but a complete list of teachers assigned to duty is available, issued by the District Development Officer of North-West District. It clearly states that this information is for the nodal officers handling stray dog issues,” he added. To be sure, the order does not mention any specific duty such as the counting of stray dogs.

Earlier, Delhi education minister Ashish Sood at a press conference said AAP was “disturbing the social fabric of the city” because it had been “unable to digest its losses in the Assembly elections”.

“A coordinated campaign was run on social media claiming that Delhi’s teachers were deployed to count stray dogs. This claim is completely false. I openly challenge the Aam Aadmi Party to immediately make public any order or circular, if it exists, directing teachers to count dogs. Otherwise, the Aam Aadmi Party must publicly apologise to the people of Delhi for spreading lies,” he added.

He alleged that the party had made similar fake allegations on Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) exams for teachers and other issues over the last week. Sood alleged that, around Christmas, AAP had made false posts on X claiming that the Delhi Government had ordered action against children at schools dressed as Santa Claus.

He accused AAP of attempting to create “administrative chaos” by spreading “falsehoods” regarding the suspension of tehsildars and sub-registrars in Delhi.“Why does the Aam Aadmi Party have so much affection for the corrupt? During the AAP regime, these offices functioned with open corruption, and now when the government is taking action against corruption, why is the Aam Aadmi Party standing in support of corrupt officials?,” he added. This comes a day after the chief minister’s office said the sub-registrar of Kapashera had been suspended on allegations of corruption.

This kicked off another row. While AAP Delhi chief Saurabha Bhardwaj, in a posted on X, that the elected government of Delhi does not have the power to suspend any officer, it was contradicted soon after by government functionaries clarifying that only matters pertaining to senior officers go to the National Capital Civil Service Authority (NCCSA) and the rest fall under the government’s purview.