NEW DELHI: The AAP on Tuesday alleged that it was Lt Governor Anil Baijal who consistently opposed the regularisation of services of Kashmiri migrant teachers in Delhi government schools despite a nod by the Arvind Kejriwal-led Cabinet.
The statement of the ruling party in Delhi came a day after a teachers' association hit out at Chief Minister Kejriwal for claiming credit for regularisation of the migrant teachers, saying the Delhi government did it because it was left with no choice after the Supreme Court's judgment in the matter.
Addressing a press conference on the premises of the Delhi assembly, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj dismissed the association's claims as "false and misleading", and accused the BJP of doing politics over the issue.
The statement of the Government School Teachers' Association (Migrant), released by its coordinator Dilip Bhan on Monday, kicked up a political row with the BJP launching an attack on the AAP.
"After the formation of the AAP government, these Kashmiri teachers came to Kejriwal and also met (deputy chief minister) Manish Sosodia. The Kejriwal government decided that their services should be regularised. Cabinet passed a proposal for this," Atishi said.
But, Lt Governor (L-G) Baijal objected to the regularisation of these 235 teachers, she claimed.
"The BJP's L-G (Baijal) writes a note in the file stating that it is a service matter, and the Delhi government has no jurisdiction to interfere, and that all decisions have to be taken by the L-G in this matter," Atishi claimed and showed some documents at the press conference.
She alleged that its was not alone the Delhi L-G's decision to oppose the regularisation of teachers as he had consulted with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the matter.
"BJP's L-G never stood by Kashmiri migrant teachers. He openly opposed their regularisation. He even filed a petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the double bench verdict which had favoured the teachers' regularisation," Atishi said.
The AAP leaders also questioned the veracity of the teachers' body, which issued the statement targeting Kejriwal on the issue of regularising Kashmiri migrant teachers.
The teachers' association, which was party in the case filed in the court, has issued a clarification, saying, Bhan whose statement is circulating in the name of their organisation is not known to them, they claimed.
The association has also stated that the Kejriwal government always stood by Kashmiri migrant contractual teachers and even passed a policy in its Cabinet in 2017 favouring their regularisation, Atishi said.
"The BJP is playing politics over the issue," Atishi said, adding "Modi government has not done anything for Kashmiri migrants so far, the BJP has only opposed the rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandits, worked against them, did everything to obstruct the regularisation of their jobs."
The AAP posted the teachers' association's statement on the party's official Twitter handle.
"This is the real face of the BJP and its leaders, they are liars, cunning and worthless," AAP leader Bharadwaj charged.
The BJP hit back at AAP, alleging that the Kejriwal government has put pressure on the teachers' association "to speak in its favour" after it was "exposed".
"The entire country knows that refugees are not in a position to oppose the local government and the AAP is trying to misuse their weakness," Delhi BJP general secretary Harsh Malhotra alleged in a statement.
"When Kejriwal is facing wide condemnation for calling the film on Kashmiri Pandits a lie, the AAP is trying to get the issue confused with the issue of regularisation of Kashmiri contract teachers," he added.
The BJP leader said AAP "often" takes cudgels against the Lt Governor but why did its leaders keep mum when he was stopping them from regularising the teachers.
"Why didn't they make a hue and cry?" he asked.
Malhotra said the BJP government had given employment to Kashmiri teachers in 1994-95.
"In 2009-10, when the demand for Kashmiri teachers service regularisation grew, the then Congress government created administrative hurdles and later both the Congress and the AAP governments took obstructive stand in courts," he alleged.