Ahead of Punjab polls, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal reached Mohali on Saturday where he joined the protesting teachers and criticisedthe Channi government over the matter.
Kejriwal is in Punjab for the second time this week. This time, the AAP chief has backed teachers in Mohali who are demanding regularisation of contractual teachers' services, amongother things.
As the AAP leader joined protestors, the teachers said that “many leaders, including Captain Amarinder Singh and Manpreet Badal, made promises.”
“Government should only make promises that they can keep,” said unemployed teachers.
Earlier, as Kejriwal reached Chandigarh, he said: Many teachers have been staging dharna. They have a lot of problems. Instead of teaching inside classrooms, these teachers are forced toatop towers.
“Punjab government is not taking teachers seriously,” he added.
In August, at least five protesters including two women members of the Teacher Coordination Committee climbed atop the water tank of Kumbhra village in Mohali, threatening to commit suicideif their demands are not met.
Notably, thousands of unemployed ETT-TET qualified teachers are protesting across Punjab, demanding a resumption of recruitment and, in some cases, job security.
Kejriwal’s visit comes a day after AAP leader and Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia challenged Punjab education minister Pargat Singh for a public debate on the education modelsof the two governments. Punjab minister Pargat Singh has accepted the challenge in which he proposed a joint visit to not 10 but 250 government schools of Delhi and Punjab.
With his recent visits to Punjab, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has effectively taken control of the Aam Aadmi Party's election campaign in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly elections.
AAP was the second-largest party in Punjab in the 2017 elections, winning 20 of the total 117 seats. This time, the AAP's senior leaders are focusing on Punjab intending to capture powerin the northern state.
On November 22 and 23, Kejriwal visited the state for two days, launching AAP's 'Mission Punjab.' The AAP leader had stated that he would return to Punjab to work for teachers.