NEW DELHI: In the end, the Gujarati snacks went cold, untouched. Aam Aadmi Party’s hospitality remained untested. And the match was postponed. The Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Delhi was where AAP wanted to fight the first battle for distant Gujarat. But the BJP thought otherwise. And there lies a political tale.
A competition of sorts, to decide which was better among the Delhi and Gujarat models of education, was in the offing for some weeks. AAP said government schools in Delhi were now a role model for the entire country. Not quite so, the BJP countered.
So, AAP came up with an idea. You come and check our schools, it told the Gujarat unit of BJP, and we will visit your schools over there. That was AAP, preparing the ground for entering the electoral fray when assembly polls are held in Gujarat later this year.
A BJP delegation did land in Delhi on Tuesday. But they did not want to visit a school AAP selected because they wanted to avoid a conducted tour in a sanitised environment. Visit any school, AAP told the delegation, and went on to make arrangements to welcome the members at Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya that is just a stone’s throw from the BJP headquarters.
Buntings and banners and flowers and garlands made it a colourful affair. The Gujarati snacks, AAP thought, was a nice touch. Four AAP MLAs — Atishi, Kuldeep Kumar, Gulab Singh and Rituraj Jha — were part of the welcoming committee. The delegation did not arrive at the given time. The wait extended to an hour. Finally, they realised the BJP delegation had said pass. There was no sign of them.
Gulab Singh was exasperated. The legislator is also the in-charge of AAP’s Gujarat unit. “We are waiting for the delegation and if they want, we will show them any school and mohalla clinic even in rural areas.” The BJP delegation just wanted to “politicise” AAP’s work and they had no intention of studying the Delhi development model, he intoned.
The AAP MLA claimed the BJP had closed down more than 6,000 schools in Gujarat. The delegation should have seen how Kejriwal’s model of development worked, he said. Next round in Gujarat?