Sisodia alleges attack by BJP workers during school inspection in east Delhi

“BJP leaders and goons protesting construction of school in Rohtas Nagar sabotaged the school and vandalised my official vehicle. They misbehaved with female teachers, engineers and workers by breaking into the school. Why BJP supporters have a problem with construction of schools and education,” Manish Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, tweeted in Hindi

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday said that local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and their supporters vandalised a school in north east Delhi’s Rohtash Nagar, damaged his official vehicle, broke open the gates of the school and misbehaved with teachers.

Sisodia, who also the education portfolio, was in Rohtash Nagar to inspect the construction of a government school. (Twitter/@msisodia)

“BJP leaders and goons protesting construction of school in Rohtas Nagar sabotaged the school and vandalised my official vehicle. They misbehaved with female teachers, engineers and workers by breaking into the school. Why BJP supporters have a problem with construction of schools and education,” Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, tweeted in Hindi. He also tweeted photographs of the purported attack on his Twitter account on Tuesday morning.

Delhi BJP leaders denied the allegations that party workers were involved in the alleged attack.

Sisodia, who also the education portfolio, was in Rohtash Nagar to inspect the construction of a government school. He has been inspecting the ongoing construction of new rooms and blocks in Delhi government schools for the last one week. On Tuesday, he visited schools in Babarpur, Karawal Nagar, Shivaji Park and Gokalpur. Delhi government runs nearly 1,030 schools across the capital.

Sisodia’s cabinet colleague, health minister, Satyendar Jain, also shared photographs of the incident and blamed the BJP for it. “The BJP may try any tricks but they will not be able to stop us. They may launch thousands of such attacks, but we are not going to be threatened. We have pledged to serve Delhi and its residents and nobody can stop us,” Jain tweeted in Hindi.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said Sisodia’s tweet alleging attack on his team and school staff by local BJP workers is a proof of his intolerance for “public protest”.

“No BJP worker entered the school premises so there is no question of any attack on school staff or labour. Some local BJP workers assembled there and wanted to apprise the deputy chief minister of local problems related to Delhi Jal Board and ration, but he refused to meet them after which they raised slogans. The matter ended after police intervened,” Kapoor said.

Deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram said two separate complaints were received at the Shahdara police station from the school management. The first complaint was about an unidentified mob creating a ruckus and manhandling school’s staff during a protest. The second complaint was filed later and it mentioned damages caused to some flower pots on the school’s campus.

“We are examining the complaints and further action would be taken accordingly,” said the DCP.

About the Sisodia’s allegations that his official vehicle was damaged by the BJP party workers, police said that no complaint regarding that was received from the deputy chief minister or the Aam Aadmi Party till Tuesday evening.