Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia have hit out at the BJP for accusing them of corruption in the construction of classrooms. Saying the BJP was deliberately keeping schools in a poor condition in the states it rules, they dared the BJP to have them arrested.
Three BJP MPs from Delhi had earlier on Monday accused Kejriwal and Sisodia of a Rs 2000 crore scam in the awarding of contracts for the construction of classrooms across Delhi. They claimed that the AAP was constructing classrooms at Rs 8,800 per square foot.
They also alleged the contracts had been awarded to associates and relatives of Kejriwal and Sisodia. They had said they would take the matter to the Lok Pal. The issues comes just months ahead of the Assembly election in Delhi.
Sisodia and Kejriwal took to Twitter to air their grievances with the allegations against them.
"For the first time, poor children are studying in such good schools. Before, only rich children could even go close to such schools. Now, the children of auto drivers, ayahs and labourers are becoming doctors, engineers and lawyers. BJP does not want this to happen. That is why BJP is intentionally keeping schools in a poor condition in the states it rules," read a tweet from Kejriwal.
"BJP's CBI has already investigated all our files. They found nothing. If there has been a scam, why don't you arrest us immediately? You have all the agencies. Why do you want to stop the good education that the poor are getting?" he said in another tweet.
With the Delhi Assembly elections just months away, the BJP is taking a shot at the classroom project, which the AAP has been among the key focus areas for the Kejriwal government. The AAP has repeatedly touted its construction of classrooms as a key achievement, even as it acknowledged that there was a shortage of about 45,000 teachers.
In the recent Lok Sabha elections as well, the AAP had appealed for votes on the basis of its work on constructing the classrooms and for its claimed improvement in the delivery of health services. However, the party had lost in all seven of Delhi's Lok Sabha constituencies, and placed second in only one.
