Matter of Great Pride: Sisodia on Melania Trump’s School Visit

Melania, is scheduled to visit the school on 25 March to watch “happiness classes” and interact with the students.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal (left) with Deputy CM Manish Sisodia (right). 

(Photo: PTI)

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Sunday, 23 February that he and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would have loved to receive US First Lady Melania Trump at a Delhi government school she's scheduled to visit but he respected the concerns raised by US Embassy over it.

Sisodia, who is also Delhi’s education minister, said it is a matter of pride for his government that the US first lady will visit a government-run school.

Melania, wife of US President Donald Trump, is scheduled to visit the school on Tuesday, 25 March to watch "happiness classes" and interact with the students.

“Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and I would have loved to personally receive the First Lady in the Delhi Govt school and brief her about the concept of Happiness Classes and the positive impact that it has had on students, during her visit to the classrooms,”

Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister

"However, certain concerns were expressed by the US embassy regarding CM and Deputy CM accompanying the first lady during the school visit. We respect the same. We welcome the first lady wholeheartedly and will do our best to facilitate the tour," he added.

According to the original schedule, Kejriwal and Sisodia were to welcome Melania at the school and brief her about the rationale behind the introduction of happiness classes as well as the Delhi government's overall reform initiatives in the education sector, officials in the city had said on Saturday, 22 February.

The US embassy on Sunday, 23 February said it did not have any objection to the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia during US First Lady Melania Trump's visit to a Delhi government school, but stressed that it was not a political event and the intention was to focus on education and students.

The clarification came after Delhi government sources had said on Saturday Kejriwal and Sisodia will not attend the event as their names were dropped from the guest list. Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party blamed the BJP-led central government for it.

"While US Embassy had no objection to the presence of CM and Deputy CM, we appreciate their recognition that this isn't a political event and that it's best to ensure focus is on education, school, and students," a spokesperson in the US embassy said following a media query on the issue.

Expressing anguish over the exclusion of names of the two leaders from the event, Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said it has been a "protocol" and "convention" that state leaders are present when any foreign leader attends events in their states.

He also alleged that the names of Kejriwal and Sisodia have been dropped from the guest list at the behest of the BJP-led central government.

When asked about the issue of Kejriwal not being part of the guestlist for Melania's visit to the Delhi school, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that there shouldn't be any "low-level politics or petty politics" on issues which are of national interest.

As per the curriculum, students studying in classes I-VIII at Delhi government schools spend 45 minutes every day to attend "happiness classes" where they participate in activities like storytelling, meditation and question and answer sessions.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led government has been spending a large chunk of its budget on education in the city.