E-Paper
'…kabiliyat to hai': CM Baghel after Kejriwal criticises Chhattisgarh govt schools
CM Bhupesh Baghel reacted to Arvind Kejriwal's comment on the conditions of Chattisgarh government schools during a rally in the poll-bound state.
Days after Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal criticised the condition of Chhattisgarh's government schools, his counterpart Bhupesh Baghel reacted to his remarks, implying that his statements were only meant to generate publicity.
“…wo ek din gaye, ek dharmshala me kuch logo se baat ki aur aa gaye….matlab ye Kejriwal ji ye jante hai ki media me kaise bane rehna hai….kejriwal ji khans-khans ke bhi Hindustan bhar charcha me rahe hai, muffler laga kar bhi charcha me rahe hai….to abhi koi chal diye to usme bhi charcha me bana rehte hai, wo uski kabiliyat to hai (He went for a day, spoke with some people at an inn, and then returned... I mean, Kejriwal knows how to stay in the media headlines…he has been in discussion because of his coughing, wearing a muffler, this is just like that...that is his ability)," the Chhattisgarh CM remarked during a podcast with news agency ANI.
Also Read: Caste arithmetic to new faces, BJP draws strategy to wrest Chhattisgarh
Baghel's reaction comes days after Kejriwal labelled the conditions of the government schools in the poll-bound state as “terrible”. “Before coming here, I was reading a report…bura haal hai sarkari schools (government schools are in terrible condition). Many schools have been shut down by them (the ruling regime), while in others, there is only a single teacher for ten classes,” the Delhi CM said in a rally in the Congress-ruled state on August 19.
Congress retorts
Shortly after the rally, the Congress national spokesperson Pawan Khera dared the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief to compare the performance of his government in the national capital versus those led by the Congress in the past for an apt analysis. "Why go to Raipur? Performance of our Chhattisgarh govt will be compared with the previous Raman Singh govt. Let us choose a sector of your choice and compare the performance of the Congress government in Delhi vs your govt here. Ready for a debate?” Khera wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Notably, both the AAP and the Congress are allies of the Opposition's I.N.D.I.A or Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance grouping aimed at taking down the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The bloc formed by 26 non-BJP parties continues to conduct national meetings to create a road map for their undertaking even as differences among them persist on regional levels.
Chhattisgarh is scheduled to go to poll later this year.
