AAP leaders accuse BJP of reviving ‘education mafia’ in national capital

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday accused the BJP-led Delhi government of reviving the “education mafia” just a month after coming to power. The criticism came amid protests by parents over steep hike in fees by private schools.

Former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the BJP has undone the work of his government, which he claimed had kept education privateers in check for a decade.

“In 10 years, we didn’t allow private schools in Delhi to hike fees arbitrarily. We ended the education mafia. Within just a month of their government taking over, the education mafia has returned,” Kejriwal said in a post on X.

Echoing Kejriwal’s statement, former Deputy CM of Delhi Manish Sisodia said the BJP had “given a free run” to private schools.

“Thousands of parents today are deeply anxious about their children’s future. The BJP has let private schools run amok. They’ve been given a free hand to increase fees. Some schools have gone to the extreme, hiking fees by up to 82 per cent,” Sisodia said in a post on X.

“Children are being denied entry to classrooms. Some are being made to sit in libraries the entire day. What kind of government does this,” he asked. AAP leaders claimed that the BJP is “hell-bent” on dismantling Delhi’s education model.

Addressing a press conference, AAP’s Delhi state president Saurabh Bharadwaj said: “Uninterrupted electricity and affordable education — both of which helped the middle class — are disappearing under the BJP rule. Almost all private schools in Delhi have increased their fees by 20 to 82 per cent. This is a direct assault on middle-class families.”

Bharadwaj alleged that elite schools in areas like Dwarka, Rohini and Vasant Kunj have begun mistreating students over fee payments. “On Day 1 of the new academic session, students whose parents didn’t pay the increased fee were stopped during the morning assembly and forced to sit in the library the entire day,” he said.

“Even for using the toilet, they are sent with an attendant. These are children from upper middle-class areas like Greater Kailash and South Extension — and they are being humiliated,” he said.

He also cited the case of Salwan Public School in Mayur Vihar, Phase 3, which he said had effected a 57 per cent fee hike already, with another 25 per cent hike planned. “Parents are protesting, but the BJP government is silent,” he said.

Other schools named by AAP included Maharaja Agrasen School in Pitampura and Prajna School in Vasant Kunj, both accused of harassing students over unpaid fees.

“Under the Kejriwal government, whenever a school hiked fees arbitrarily, the local AAP MLA would reach the gate within hours. But today, not a single BJP MLA is standing with the parents. Why? Because the BJP is a party of capitalists,” Bharadwaj said.

Delhi