Kiren Rijiju Tweets Video Of MCD-run School With Misleading Claim

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju recently tweeted a video showing newly appointed Delhi Education Minister Atishi inspecting a school in poor condition and falsely claimed that the institute exposed the lacunae of the school model under former Education Minister Manish Sisodia of the Delhi government.

Rijiju further alleged that Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party's fake propaganda about education stood exposed as Atishi expressed her dissatisfaction over the school's condition in the video.

BOOM found that the school was under the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) till December 2022.

Atishi, along with AAP councilor Shelly Oberoi, visited the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)-run school after Oberoi won the mayoral election in February 2023, dethroning the BJP's 15-year rule over the civic body.

Atishi took charge of the education department in March this year following the resignation of former Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia. Sisodia, who also served as the deputy chief minister, is currently in judicial custody in connection with alleged corruption in the Delhi excise policy. Atishi said that she will serve the post till Sisodia returns from jail.

In the 10-second long video, Atishi can be seen interacting with the school faculty and inspecting the school premises. The newly elected Delhi education minister alleged negligence and pulled up school authorities for its poor condition.

Rijiju tweeted the clip with the caption, "Kejriwal Ji said Sisodia was the best Education Minister in India & Delhi's School models are World class! I'm told, the new Education Minister of Delhi Atishi has publicly exposed both Kejriwal and Sisodia!!". (sic.)

Click here to view the tweet.

All India Mahila Congress President Netta D'Souza and multiple Congress supporters, too, tweeted another video from the same inspection attacking the AAP-led Delhi government over its work.

Click here to view the tweet.

Political strategist Sahdev Salaria and other Facebook users also shared the video with the same claim.

Click here to view the post.

Fact Check

BOOM found that Atishi, in a tweet, pointed out that the school was under the BJP-ruled MCD for more than 15 years until the AAP candidate Shelly Oberoi won the mayoral election in February 2023.

Atishi called out Rijiju's tweet and wrote, "Its a pity that Kiren Rijiju ji isn’t aware that this school was under MCD, which was ruled by BJP for 15+ years, till 2023. Had his party spent more time on education than on falsely prosecuting AAP leaders, perhaps their schools wouldn’t have been in such a pathetic state." (sic.)

Click here to view the tweet.

We further noticed that the video tweeted by Rijiju is part of a live streaming from the AAP Delhi's official YouTube channel which was telecast on April 10, 2023. The video shows both Delhi Education Minister Atishi Marlena and Mayor Shelly Oberoi pulling up officials seeing the appalling condition of the school.

The exact sequence of the longer version of the viral video can be watched from 1 minutes 20 seconds to 1 minutes 40 seconds timestamp.

At the 10-second mark of the video, the school's code: 1253404 can be seen.

We then checked the Delhi Education Department's website and found a list mentioning the schools under the MCD. A keyword search showed us the school with code no - 1253404 is located at Wazirabad in Northeast Delhi and its name as 'MCD Primary School (Boys)'.

This shows that the school was under MCD, which was under the BJP till December 2022.

BJP Ruled The MCD From 2007-2022

Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, in December 2022, won 134 seats and recorded its maiden victory in the 250-member MCD. The victory ended the 15-year-long BJP rule over the civic body since 2007 after witnessing a neck-to-neck fight between the BJP and the AAP. In February 2023, the AAP candidate from Delhi's East Patel Nagar Dr Shelly Oberoi was elected as the mayor of Delhi.

It is noteworthy that the MCD had come into existence under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957. The three pre-existing civic bodies, East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) were re-unified into a single entity as the MCD in May last year.