Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia not invited for Melania Trump’s School visit
NEW DELHI : The names of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia have been dropped from the list of an event in which US First Lady Melania Trump will be the guest, according to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The AAP party, on Saturday, has allegedly said that both Kejriwal and Sisodia were scheduled to welcome Melania Trump at the South Delhi government school, but their names were dropped by the central government.No official statement has been issued yet on the reasons behind Kejriwal and Sisodia being dropped from the visit.
The 49-year-old US First Lady is scheduled to watch a “happiness class” at a Delhi government school on February 25, Tuesday. The name of the school where Melania will go has not been disclosed, but some Delhi government schools are being decorated.
Melania, who is arriving in India on February 24 as part of President Donald Trump’s official visit, will interact with students and observe a “happiness class” at a school in south Delhi on Tuesday.
It was earlier reported that Kejriwal and Sisodia would give the First Lady a tour of the school and brief her about the unique “happiness curriculum” introduced by the Arvind Kejriwal government in July 2018.
The curriculum dictates that students studying in classes 1-8 at Delhi government schools have to spend 45 minutes each day to attend “Happiness Classes” where they participate in exercises such as storytelling, meditation and question and answer sessions. Similarly, for nursery and KG students, the classes are held twice a week.
The BJP, however, said the issue must not be politicised. “We just want to say that we should not do petty politics on this… We don’t influence the US on who to invite or not,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.
Donald Trump, his wife Melania and a high-level delegation, including Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, will arrive in Ahmedabad at around noon on February 24. Their trip will last for a little less than 36 hours. From Ahmedabad, they will travel to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal before arriving to Delhi for the main leg of the visit.
In Ahmedabad, President Trump will address the ‘Namaste Trump’ event jointly with PM Narendra Modi at the newly built Motera Cricket Stadium. After the event, the US President and the First Lady will visit Agra, where they will spend about an hour at the Taj Mahal before the sunset. President Trump will then depart for Delhi.
After the talks, Modi will host a lunch for the US President. In the afternoon, Trump is expected to attend certain private events at the US Embassy, including a private round table discussion with industry representatives. In the evening, the Trump will meet President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. A banquet will be hosted by Kovind and the US President will depart from India later that evening.
The inclusion of a Delhi government school in the high-profile visit is interesting, given the ugly row during the election campaign in the capital over the BJP posting videos that they said “exposed” the poor state of schools managed by the Kejriwal government.
