Today Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and LG- VK Saxena jointly inaugurated a new campus of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in East Delhi. However, his speech at the event was marked by multiple interruptions and sloganeering by supporters of both the Aam Adami Paty and Bharatiya Janata Party. Some audience present at the event objected to claims made by the AAP supremo while others hailed him, resulting in interruptions, after which Kejriwal appealed to them to listen to him first.
The first interruption took place after 4 minutes of the Delhi CM’s speech. He was claiming that the Delhi government has improved the government schools a lot, and the results were also visible. To this, someone in the audience objected. Arvind Kejriwal paused his speech, and asked him to raise any objections later. With folded hands, he requested to be allowed to continue. To this, AAP supporters started chanting ‘Arvind Kejriwal Zindabad’ slogans, interrupting the speech of their own leader.
In response, others in the audience, apparently BJP supporters, started chanting ‘Modi Zinadabad’ slogans, resulting a commutation at the event. After the noise came down, Arvind Kejriwal said, ‘had education system improved by such slogans, lots would have been done in 70 years’.
‘I requested you with folded hands, people from both parties, please listen to me for 5 minutes. If you don’t like my comments than you can chant slogans later also,’ Kejriwal begged the audience to keep calm and listen to his speech.
He said that he will speak for just 5 minutes, and if they don’t like what he says, they can leave. He asked them to sit down, and continued with his speech, generating claps from AAP supporters.
But another interruption took place after around 11 mins of the speech, when he was talking about the Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum scheme of the Delhi govt. It was announced in 2021 that under this scheme, Rs 2000 will be given to students of class 11 and 12 in seed money for developing business ideas. Talking about the scheme, Kejriwal said that Rs 2000 may seem like a small amount, but if 154 students come together, there will be Rs 30,000 in total, and with that money they can start a viable business.
However, someone from the audience interrupted by making some comments. After that, several members of the audience started doing a lot of noise. Arvind Kejriwal was visibly angry at this time, and he blasted a female official, questioning why he was invited if nobody is willing to listen to him. When the official said that AAP supporters are also making noises, Kejriwal said that they are doing it in response to the interruptions by the other section of the audience.
He again appealed the people to listen to him for 5 minutes, asking them to protest after his speech is over if they don’t like it. After that, he finished his speech without any further interruptions.
Interestingly, even before the speech, the inauguration of the campus by Kejwal already attracted controversy, as BJP had claimed that AAP was claiming credit for a project funded by the central govt. AAP had posted photographs of the campus, saying that it has been built by the Arvind Kejriwal govt.
Is this an American University❓
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) June 8, 2023
Is this a European University❓
NO‼️
This is the East Delhi Campus of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, built by @ArvindKejriwal Govt 🔥 pic.twitter.com/zVbs6JmCxB
However, BJP leaders and supporters countered the claim by showing that the foundation stone for the East Delhi campus of the university was actually laid by Smriti Irani in 2014, who was union HR minister at that time. Many also claimed that the campus construction was funded by the central govt.
The foundation stone of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University was laid by @smritiirani and it has been constructed with Central Govt funds but that didn't stop the habitual offenders Aam Aadmi Party from grabbing credit for the work they haven't done!! pic.twitter.com/IeULjC1KLd
— Priti Gandhi – प्रीति गांधी (@MrsGandhi) June 8, 2023
Moreover, when Delhi govt announced that it will be inaugurated by the CM, the L-G’s office objected to the same, saying that the office of L-G V K Saxena had already been decided that the inauguration would be done by the L-G. A note from the L-G office said that it had already been decided that the launch would be done by Saxena and that the CM was aware of this. It said Kejriwal was supposed to be invited as the guest of honour and Atishi as a special guest.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj objected to this, saying the L-G can inaugurate police stations and Delhi Development Authority sports complexes if he wants, but education and higher education are state subjects. Finally, both the L-G and the CM jointly inaugurated the campus.
Delhi LG royally schooled Kejriwal with facts on total cost of university. pic.twitter.com/CRWsrTqWpC
— Amit Kumar (@AMIT_GUJJU) June 8, 2023
During his speech, VK Saxena addressed the claims of AAP, saying that foundation stone for the same was laid by former Human Resource Minister Smriti Irani in 2014. He further said that out of the total cost of Rs 378 crore spent in the new campus, Rs 346 crore was spent by the university from its own funds. He added that Delhi govt had approved approximately Rs 41 crore for the project.
