Sending Teachers to Applaud at PM’s Rally an Insult, Says Manish Sisodia

Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia expressed surprise over teachers being sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally under government orders and described it as extremely shameful. Launching a sharp attack on the BJP, he said that sending teachers just to clap at the PM’s rally is an insult to them, and the BJP should apologise for it. He stated, “The AAP government had sent these teachers abroad for training, but now the BJP government is making them clap at a rally. In fact, BJP has nothing to do with education. That’s why it deliberately wants to keep people uneducated by providing poor-quality education.”

Teachers Forced to Clap at Road Inauguration

Manish Sisodia said that on Sunday, the Prime Minister inaugurated a road in Delhi, which is a good development. However, the Delhi BJP government issued government orders to summon all teachers to applaud at the PM’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, which he called astonishing and shameful. He added that a road inauguration is a routine event, but the BJP could not find volunteers to applaud at the event, so a directive was issued that every principal and teacher in Delhi’s government schools must be present to clap when the PM cuts the ribbon. He called this practice extremely humiliating.

A Shameful Misuse of Teachers’ Profession

Sisodia further stated that everyone knows BJP has nothing to do with education and wants to deliberately keep people uneducated with substandard schooling. “But we never expected that thousands of Delhi teachers, who barely get a Sunday off to spend time with their families or work, would be called to clap at a road inauguration event,” he said. Sisodia added, “In our country, it is said, ‘Guru and God both stand before you; whom should you bow to? Praise the Guru, for he guides you to God.’ Here, the situation is reversed. Modi Ji and the Guru are both present; Modi Ji cuts the ribbon and gives speeches on stage while the teachers stand below to clap. Is this the responsibility of teachers? This is an insult to their profession. The BJP should apologise to Delhi’s teachers for this.”

Contrast with AAP Government’s Teacher Training Programs

Manish Sisodia recalled that a few months ago, under the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi, teachers were sent abroad for training to places like Finland, Cambridge, and IIMs. Teachers were sent to Cambridge for training, while principals were ordered to travel to IIM, Finland, and Singapore. At the time, Delhi was like that. But now, the scene is that the Prime Minister is coming to inaugurate a road, and all the teachers are sent just to clap. This is extremely shameful. Calling teachers to clap at such events is an insult to their profession. The BJP should apologise to teachers,” he said.

Meanwhile, AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh said that nobody is going to listen to Modi Ji anymore. “The BJP’s politics has completely failed. In six months, they have ruined Delhi badly. School fees increased, parents were beaten, electricity was cut for six hours, drains overflowed, homes collapsed, and people died. They have displaced people from UP, Bihar, and Purvanchal living here for 50-50 years. After six months, no one is willing to hear Modi Ji, so they try to gather crowds by using sanitation workers and schoolteachers. These rallies may look staged, but they will be of no benefit,” he said.