Pilot Urges CJP to Audit Punjab Schools with 'Same Courage' as Elsewhere

Congress leader Sachin Pilot, recently appointed the party's in-charge for Punjab, on Friday urged the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) to audit schools in Aam Aadmi Party-ruled Punjab with the same rigour it applies elsewhere, setting off a sharp exchange with the ruling party in the state.

Pilot's remarks followed a CJP inspection of three government schools in Ludhiana, led by co-convenor Saurav Das. In a video posted on Thursday, Das said a School of Eminence had strong infrastructure, including a swimming pool, a badminton court, ramp access for the differently abled and an AI lab, while a senior secondary school and a primary school faced multiple problems. All three, he said, could have better toilets.

Das and his team later met Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, who was quoted by Das as promising action on the complaints. AAP founder and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal thanked Das for pointing out deficiencies and said they would be addressed immediately.

The exercise drew criticism on social media, with users alleging that the CJP had gone soft because Punjab is governed by the AAP. They contrasted it with the outfit's approach in other states. In Rajasthan, the CJP had planned to begin an audit on August 21 at a school run from a cow shed, but its delegation, led by co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka, was assaulted by locals the outfit said were linked to the BJP. Cross FIRs were filed, and Ranka and others were also booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Pilot said any school audit should be welcomed, adding a request that Punjab be examined with the same eyes, questions and courage applied to other governments. "Punjab deserves no special exemption—and AAP deserves no friendly exemption," he said.

AAP leaders hit back, asking Pilot to compare Punjab's schools with those in Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh. Former Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia said the party could show 1,000 excellent schools and challenged Pilot to produce a similar list from Himachal, proposing a joint audit of government schools in both states. AAP national media in-charge Anurag Dhanda questioned Pilot's stance on schools in BJP-ruled Rajasthan and repeated the offer of a joint audit.

Ranka, tagging a user, said he had repeatedly asked Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar to show the ten best schools built during his tenure, and offered to visit any good schools if pointed out.

The CJP has faced earlier criticism over its choice of states, with BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad recently accusing it of remaining silent on Punjab and Congress-ruled states while targeting BJP-governed ones.