New Delhi: Punjab’s Minister of Education Harjot Singh Bains recently tweeted a photo of a swanky school classroom – gleaming desks, air-conditioning, attentive children with head-sets et al.
“Yes it’s a govt school. A primary govt school of Punjab, Manela, District Fatehgarh Sahib,” said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, with unabashed pride.
Yes it’s, A govt. school…..
A primary govt. school of Punjab, Manela, District Fategarh Sahib. pic.twitter.com/MECknE3lpM— Harjot Singh Bains (@harjotbains) December 5, 2022
The post was shared 738 times and liked by 2,323 accounts. It was further shared by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who retweeted the post saying: “Very vibrant. Good work Hon’ble Minister @harjotbains ji. Best wishes.”
A slew of AAP members and party accounts went on to laud Bains for his “supposedly” masterful administration that led to a government classroom look straight out of a story book.
“On the land of world-class government schools in Delhi, now even in Punjab Shri. Arvind Kejriwal model is appearing. This is the primary school in Punjab’s Manela village, the whole country is expecting such a change,” said a post by the Aam Aadmi Party’s Maharashtra unit on Facebook, which was also reposted by AAP, Andhra Pradesh and AAP, Rajasthan.
Social activist Swati Maliwal, who is currently chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, also shared the photograph. She has nearly five lakh followers on Twitter.
Fact check:
While the photograph is from Punjab’s Manela — a testament to the fact that the state’s government schools are a cut above the rest — the picture is actually four years old.
It was originally shared on YouTube in 2018. At that time, the AAP was nowhere in the state’s political imagination. Punjab was ruled by Congress chief minister Amarinder Singh, and Vijay Inder Singh was his education minister.
(In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer)
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