When should I come to see your schools: Kejriwal and Assam CM Sarma engage in Twitter banter

New Delhi: The Twitter spat between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Assam counterpart stretched on to Saturday with the AAP chief asking Himanta Biswa Sarma when should he come to see the schools of the northeastern state. The argument between the two leaders in the virtual space began after Kejriwal had on Wednesday tweeted that the closure of schools is not a solution and there is a need to open more schools across the country, and shared a link to a news report claiming a "closure" of some schools in Assam.

Both Kejriwal and Sarma have exchanged several virtual verbal volleys in the past three days. On Saturday, the AAP supremo tweeted in Hindi, "There is a saying we have -- If someone asks 'When should I come and they say 'Come whenever you can't, then it means 'Don't come ever'. I had asked you -- 'When should I come to see your government schools', you didn't tell me. Tell me, when should I come, only then I can come." His fresh tweet came in response to the remarks made by Sarma on Friday on the microblogging site.

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In a series of tweets, Sarma shared some of the differences between Delhi and Assam, mocking Kejriwal. "Dear @ArvindKejriwal Ji, Your ignorance is painful. Let me help you. Assam is 50 times bigger than Delhi! Our 44521 govt schools teach 65 lakh students - against your 1000+ odd schools. Our army of dedicated teachers numbers 2+ lakh; Midday meal workers 1.18 lakh. Fathom it?" he tweeted. In another tweet, Sarma said, "And yes, when you're in Assam, which you so desperately wish to, I will take you to our Medical Colleges, 1000 times better than your Mohalla Clinic. Also, meet our bright Govt school teachers and students." He added in Hindi "quit bothering about making India no.1, Modiji is doing that".

Sarma had taken to Twitter on Thursday to lash out at Kejriwal over the amalgamation of schools and asked him to "do his homework" before commenting. "Dear @ArvindKejriwal Ji-as usual you commented on something without any homework! Since my days as Education Minister till now, please note, the Assam government has established and taken over 8,610 new schools," he had tweeted. He had also asked how many schools did the Delhi government start in the last seven years.

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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief had responded to Sarma's tweet on Friday. "Oh, it seems you took offence. My intention was not to point out your faults. All of us are one country. We have to learn from each other, then only India will become the number one country," Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. He further said he is willing to visit Assam and asked Sarma when should he go to the northeastern state. "You show me your good work in the field of education. You come to Delhi, I will show you the work in Delhi," he said Kejriwal had tweeted on Wednesday in response to a news item claiming that the Assam government had closed 34 schools due to poor results.

Sarma later claimed that since his tenure as the education minister, the state government has, from 2013 till now, provincialised or taken over private schools into the government fold and this includes 6,802 elementary and 1,589 secondary schools, 81 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, three Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Avashik Vidyalaya and 97 tea garden model schools.