Questioning his silence over Punjab schools outshining  Delhi in the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 released by Union Education Ministry, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, on Saturday, asked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann whether he is belittling the state’s students and teachers’ glory by not uttering a single word to celebrate this achievement.

“I am shocked that while Bhagwant Mann is not letting any opportunity go to joyfully burn and squander the money of a resource-starved Punjab on issuing nationwide advertisements to promote Kejriwal and his ‘fake Delhi model’ while refusing to even acknowledge the achievements of his own state vis a vis Delhi,” Badal said in a statement.

“Mann is singing praises of the Delhi model at the expense of the promotion of the glorious achievements of Punjabis, including our children, youth, students, and teachers,” he added.

The SAD chief said Mann, who had delivered such long speeches to preach the state’s proud and competent teachers, is ashamed of telling the world that Punjab’s teachers and students are already far ahead of others including their counterparts from Delhi.

“Our students and teachers have now demonstrated something that the AAP and the Congress have always tried to hide i.e. Punjabis are the best in every field. Punjab has proved that it is the best in the country,” said the Akali leader.

“Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, and other leaders of AAP shamelessly humiliated the children of the state by rubbishing their achievements and singing praises of the fake Delhi model,” he said adding that AAP’s lies stand exposed today as their so-called Delhi model is nowhere near the glory achieved by the teachers and students under the Punjab Model.

Badal wondered why the Punjab CM is ashamed of telling the world that the children of his state are the best. “He (Mann) knows that the Punjab model has been adopted by the Union government. But he is scared of owning this achievement because this will prove something which he and Kejriwal want to hide, that our students and teachers are far ahead of their competitors from Mann’s dreamland, Delhi,” he said.

Badal asked the CM why he had not thought it necessary to issue even a single advertisement to celebrate the achievements of the people of his own state. “Are you so scared of Kejriwal that you do not want to even congratulate our own achievers, fearing that this will expose the hollow claims of your boss on the Delhi Model?” he asked.