NEW DELHI: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday lavished praise on his deputy, Manish Sisodia, calling him the “best education minister” in the world following a story on “revolutionary changes” in Delhi’s education system that appeared in The New York Times. Kejriwal was speaking in the aftermath of the CBI raid on Manish Sisodia’s residence and 20 other places across seven states on a corruption complaint in the implementation of Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. Kejriwal said orders had been given “from above to harass” them and create obstacles in their “Make India Number 1” mission, but they would not be deterred by such moves. Kejriwal also launched a mobile number — 9510001000 — urging people to give a missed call on that and connect with his mission. Addressing a digital press conference, Kejriwal said getting featured on the first page of NYT was a dream of the head of every country and Sisodia had made Delhi and the country proud. Referring to the CBI raids, the AAP national convener said there would be several “obstacles” in their way but his government would continue its good work. The CBI probe was recommended by lieutenant governor VK Saxena on July 21 after an internal investigation by chief secretary Naresh Kumar found “deliberate and gross procedural lapses” to provide “undue benefits” to liquor licensees. In a tweet, the CM linked the newspaper article with the raids. “The day Delhi’s education model was appreciated and Manish Sisodia’s photo appeared on the front page of America’s biggest newspaper NYT, the Centre sent CBI to his residence,” Kejriwal tweeted. “CBI is welcome. Will extend full cooperation. Even earlier, there were raids and probes. Nothing came of it. Nothing will come out now,” he added. Heaping praise on Delhi’s education model and the efforts made by Sisodia, who holds charge of the education department besides 17 others, Kejriwal said NYT captured the revolutionary changes underway in Delhi government schools. “In yesterday’s NYT, the story on Delhi’s education model said schools were improving and children from private schools were shifting to government ones. This is a matter of pride for all Indians. In this story, the main photo on the front page was of Manish Sisodia. This is something every world leader wants,” said Kejriwal, adding he doesn’t remember the last time a positive story about India was carried in the world’s largest newspaper. The CM said, “The last time India’s name was featured in NYT was over mass deaths occurring in the country due to Covid-19.” Talking about the raid on Sisodia, Kejriwal said, “There will be several roadblocks in our mission to become the best country in the world. This is not the first raid on Manish Sisodia. There have been several false cases against him, Satyendar Jain and me. They will not find anything. Let CBI do its job, they have orders from the top.” Calling the NYT article a “divine intervention”, Kejriwal said the powers of the universe were with them. “The NYT article came out barely a day after we launched our mission to become the number one country in the world. The realisation of the dream has started; it will take time and effort, but we will do it,” he added. “We cannot leave the country to political parties. We have to come together. Those who want to join the mission to make India number 1 should call on this number. We want the 130 crore citizens of the country to join hands. We want to see good things about India appearing on the front pages of all newspapers across the world,” Kejriwal said.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/cm-defends-sisodia-says-he-is-worlds-best-education-minister/articleshow/93668200.cms
