New in the Northeast | On Twitter, a battle of words between Sarma, Kejriwal

When Kejriwal reacted to the closure of 34 State-run schools, Sarma took it upon himself not just to defend the state, but also to criticise the Delhi government on education.

This past week saw Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal taking swipes at each other over the status of education and overall governance in their respective states. And since Assam and Delhi are a couple of thousands of kilometres apart, the verbal duel is happening online — on Twitter.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Both leaders are active on social media and are quick to comment on issues and events not just in their states but elsewhere as well. This was seen on Wednesday, when Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) commented on the issue of the “closure” of 34 schools in the Northeastern state for zero success in Class 10 exams this year.

Reacting to the Assam government's move, Kejriwal tweeted that closing schools was not a solution, as many new schools needed to be opened across the country. Instead of shutting down schools, the AAP leader asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Assam to focus on improving education in those institutions.

Kejriwal was reacting to news reports about the closure of 34 State-run schools in Assam after none of their students passed this year’s High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) or Class 10 board exams. According to a state secondary education department, the closed schools will be merged with other government schools located nearby and teachers and students will be accommodated in them.

The Assam government move followed a drop in the pass percentage of Class 10 students to 56.49% this year from 93.10% in 2021. Last year, they were not held due to Covid-19 and results were declared based on performances by students in past exams and internal assessments.

Sarma tweeted on Thursday:

Giving details, the Assam CM stated that since 2013, 6,802 private elementary schools, and 1,589 private secondary schools have been provincialised (or brought under the government fold) in the state.

Sarma added that 81 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, 3 Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Avashik Vidyalayas, 38 Adarsh Vidyalayas and 97 Tea Garden Model Schools have been newly established in past years. “Curious to know Delhi’s figures,” he tweeted.

The same day, Assam information minister Pijush Hazarika took to Twitter to inform that schools are not being closed down and they are being amalgamated (with other government schools located nearby) to improve “the overall educational environment”.

“Arvind Kejriwalji has no right to speak on educational upliftment as his fake ‘Delhi Model Schools’ have been busted from time to time,” Hazarika tweeted adding that the AAP education model has demolished Delhi’s education system and brought down Class 10 pass percentage from 99.09% in 2011 to 81.27% in 2022.

“The great model schools of Delhi stand poorly in all aspects as compared to Puducherry. Kejriwalji should visit Assam rather to learn,” he added.

On Friday, Kejriwal responded by chiding Sarma for getting offended. The Delhi CM stated that his intention was not to fault Sarma. “We are all in one country. We have to learn from each other. Only then India will become the No.1 country,” tweeted Kejriwal.

“I will come to Assam. Give me a date when I can come to Assam to witness the good work in education being done in the state. You also come to Delhi - I will show you what we have done,” he added.

Sarma responded by teasing Kejriwal’s “ignorance” and stating that a comparison between Delhi and Assam wasn’t feasible. The Assam chief minister mentioned that the Northeastern state has 44,521 government schools against 1,000-odd schools in Delhi. He also highlighted that students in Assam are taught in six mediums and the state education system has to overcome obstacles like floods, militancy, and difficult terrain.

“We are amazing hosts. Please come; spend 2 nights in our riverine area and hill districts. See (the) challenges we face. You will stop lecturing,” wrote Sarma promising to take Kejriwal to visit medical colleges in Assam (which the Assam CM claims to be 1,000 times better than Delhi’s mohalla clinics) and also interact with bright students and teachers when he comes for a visit. The Assam CM also advised Kejriwal to stop worrying about making India No. 1 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was already doing that.

With the Twitter spat hitting headlines and grabbing eyeballs, Kejriwal responded on Saturday teasing Himanta for not mentioning a specific date on when the Delhi CM should visit Assam.

“You came to power with a promise to make Delhi look like London and Paris, don’t you remember Arvind Kejriwalji? When you could not do anything, then you started comparing Delhi with smaller cities of Assam and northeast. Please be assured, when BJP comes to power in a city like Delhi with its resources then our party will make it the most prosperous city in the world,” Sarma replied on Sunday. The Assam CM also expressed surprise that Kejriwal was not that enthusiastic about visiting Assam when the state was battling natural calamities like floods.

“You didn’t reply to my question? When should I come to see schools in Assam? If they are not good enough, no issues as we can make them better together. And please be assured, when AAP forms government in Assam we will ensure Delhi-like development there as well. If we end corruption, there won’t be lack of resources in Assam as well,” Kejriwal quipped back.

The Twitter spat has kept followers of both chief ministers engaged and amused for days and it remains to be seen if Sarma and Kejriwal would continue in this repartee on this issue or some other subject in the coming days.