Teachers invited, not ‘ordered’, to attend oath event, AAP clears air after facing Opp fury

Teachers, bus marshals, students, sportsman, architects of the Signature Bridge and family of firefighters who lost their lives are among those who will share the stage with AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and other senior party leaders at the oath-taking ceremony on Sunday.

Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia said the party has invited 50 “Dilli ke Nirmata”, including head of schools, auto drivers, bus conductors, metro pilots and experts from various other fields, to attend the swearing-in ceremony. These “special guests” will share the stage with Kejriwal during the ceremony, AAP leader Manish Sisodia said.

The swearing-in which is “open to public” won’t see the usual gathering of political heavyweights, although the AAP has invited the Prime Minister and all seven MPs of Delhi for the event.

Big banners bearing messages like “Dhanyawad Dilli” along with the image of Kejriwal were put up in and around the Ramlila Maidan.

A day before taking oath as the Delhi Chief Minister for the third time, Kejriwal called a dinner meeting of his Ministers-designate to discuss a roadmap for Delhi’s development.

According to party functionaries, Kejriwal will discuss with his Ministers-designate initiatives that need to be prioritised and action items for the Delhi Government in the coming three months. The meeting will also focus on developing a roadmap to make Delhi a global city, they said.

Meanwhile the AAP came under for fire for allegedly making the attendance of teachers compulsory for Kejriwal’s oath-taking ceremony. However, the AAP on Saturday clarified saying the teachers have been “invited” and not “ordered” to attend the event.

“Delhi’s teachers and principals are the architects of Delhi’s transformation in the past 5 years. They deserve to be invited to the swearing-in at Ramlila Maidan tomorrow,” AAP leader Jasmine Shah said in a tweet.

He was replying to former Delhi BJP chief Vijendar Gupta who termed the order as dictatorial.

“The Directorate of Education, GNCTD has issued a dictatorial circular making it compulsory for Government teachers to attend Mr. @ArvindKejriwal’s oath ceremony. By virtue of the order 15,000 teachers & officials are forced to attend the ceremony,” Gupta tweeted.

In another tweet, Gupta said that he has written to Kejriwal to take back the order and termed it as a misuse of the Government machinery.

“I have written to Mr @ArvindKejriwal asking him to withdraw the tughlaqi farmaan to the teachers & officials which is sheer misuse of Government machinery to meet political ends. Education cannot be employed as a tool to launch one’s political ambitions,” he said.

On Friday, Delhi’s Directorate of Education (DoE) issued a circular to its officials and teachers and principals of Delhi government schools to attend the swearing-in-ceremony of the chief minister and his council of ministers on Sunday at Ramlila ground.

The Opposition trained guns at the AAP and slammed the order. The BJP mocked the AAP saying the party has enough MLAs but not public support.

Dr CS Verma, head of School of Kautilya Government Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya and a core member of the Happiness Curriculum committee said, “I can’t explain my feelings in words. I am very happy and honoured to have been called to be a part of the oath-taking ceremony. Everyone at my school is excited as I am representing them as well as the entire community of principals who have worked hard to improve Delhi’s Government schools.”

Ahead of the mega event, a multi-level security arrangement will be in place at the Ramlila Maidan which is scheduled to begin at 10 am and traffic regulations will be in place in the area from 8 am to 2 pm.

Around 2,000 to 3,000 personnel from the Delhi Police and paramilitary forces, including the CRPF, will be deployed as part of the security arrangements, a senior police official said, adding that drones are likely to be used for surveillance.

Manu Gulati, winner of Martha Farrell Award 2019 for women empowerment, one among the invitees, said, “I am honoured to have been invited to the oath taking ceremony of the Chief Minister. I am grateful to be the face of the entire teachers’ community on the occasion.”

“The election result is a victory of those who dream to make Delhi a world class city and work tirelessly for it. Therefore Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal decided to call people from all walks of life as special guests,” Sisodia said.

Vijay Kumar, who is currently studying in IIT-Delhi with the help of Jai Bhim Mukhya-Mantri Pratibha Vikas Yojana of the Delhi Government, said that he would not have done it without the help of this scheme. “For students like me, who hail from poor sections of the society, cannot afford the fees of coaching institutes without the Government help.

“I feel excited to be a part of the oath-taking ceremony. I want to thank Kejriwal ji for having helped me realise my dream of studying in the IITs one day. It would be an honour to represent the students from underprivileged sections of the society who are realising their dreams with the help of the Jai Bheem Yojana”.

Sumit Nagal has studied from a Delhi Government school from Class 1 to 10 where he used to play tennis and the teachers always encouraged him to play. With the scheme of the Delhi Government for the budding players, Sumit is now playing at international level. “I am always grateful to the Delhi Government run by Arvind Kejriwal for supporting me to play tennis. Today when I represent India at the international level I feel proud of Delhi and my school. I hope many players like me will get the support of the Government and represent the nation at the international level,” he said.

Sonu Gautam is a Hotel Management graduate who did a few of the corporate jobs before immersing himself completely in social welfare. He has co-founded an NGO called “Bhaichara Foundation” where a bunch of 6-7 people have come together to help those in need. From blood donation to providing study materials to students, they help everyone who needs support.

He has acted like a true “Farishta” for many people and has already received five certificates from the Delhi Government under the Farishtey scheme. In 2019, he was felicitated by the Chief Minister himself under the scheme. He said that he can never forget that day as his dedication to helping others has profoundly increased after that.

“I am looking forward to see Arvind Kejriwal becoming the Chief Minister for the third time in a row. I hope my story and that of others recognised under Farishtey scheme encourages all the people of Delhi to be Farishteys and help whosoever is in need.”

Kejriwal will take oath as Delhi Chief Minister along with six others at 10 am on Sunday. The six who will take oath as Ministers are: Manish Sisodia, Satyender Jain, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gehlot, Imran Hussain and Rajendra Gautam.

The AAP won 62 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, while the BJP bagged the remaining eight seats. The Congress drew a blank for the second consecutive time.