Sisodia invites U’khand minister for debate on governance model

New Delhi: A day after deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia visited Dehradun for a debate with Uttarakhand urban development minister Madan Kaushik, the senior Aam

New Delhi: A day after deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia visited Dehradun for a debate with Uttarakhand urban development minister Madan Kaushik, the senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader on Tuesday wrote another letter to Kaushik, inviting him to visit Delhi on January 6 and debate the “Kejriwal model” of governance.

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“You had told the media on December 20, 2020, that I could come to Uttarakhand whenever I wanted and you would easily list 100 works. But when I came, you were missing. When your government did not do even one thing for the public in the past four years, what would you debate on?” Sisodia wrote in his letter on Tuesday, adding that he understood Kaushik’s “helplessness”.

“I will be waiting at 11am on January 6, to have an open debate with you on the Kejriwal model of governance,” he wrote, adding that he would take Kaushik to schools and mohalla clinics. In his letter, Sisodia also alleged that Uttarakhand BJP had engaged in corruption in the state in the past four years as pointed out by BJP MLA Puran Singh Fartyal and mentioned corruption case against the OSD of Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat.

In his letter, Sisodia said those who fought for a separate state of Uttarakhand 20 years ago now feel cheated by BJP and Congress governments. “Those who dreamt of good education, schools, hospitals, electricity, water, and employment for their children in Uttarakhand are now looking with hope at the Kejriwal model in Delhi,” he wrote.

Responding to Sisodia’s challenge, Kaushik said, “AAP’s Sisodia had come to Uttarakhand for tourism. He did his tourism politics and returned. As far as his January 6 invitation is concerned, we are not answerable to AAP but the people of Uttarakhand. We will show our development work to them, not AAP.”

Meanwhile, the Delhi units of BJP, and the Congress slammed the AAP government for their “poor performance” in the education sector and accused the party of indulging in “political tourism”.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said, “Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia has been touring other states to fulfil expansion plans of AAP, and is challenging their CM and ministers for debate on the so-called education model of Delhi. But he is not challenging the main opposition party of Delhi, i.e. BJP because he knows that we will expose the faults in the education model of Delhi government.”

The Delhi Congress alleged a drop in the number of enrolments in government schools. Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Anil Kumar alleged that the major reason behind the drop was “discrepancies” in the mid-day meal scheme under the AAP government.

The AAP did not respond to the allegations by the Delhi BJP and Congress.