Delhi: Ashish Sood slams AAP over "teachers counting dogs" claim, challenges party to produce circular

New Delhi [India], December 30 (ANI): Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood on Tuesday hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), accusing it of spreading "lies and misinformation" over an alleged directive asking teachers to count stray dogs.
Speaking at a press conference, Sood said that AAP had run a "false campaign" throughout the day, claiming that Delhi government teachers would now be assigned the task of counting stray dogs.
"The Aam Aadmi Party tweeted throughout the day yesterday and ran a campaign that Delhi's teachers will now count stray dogs. The AAP is continuously spreading such lies. Their entire politics is based on this," Sood said.
Challenging the party to substantiate its claims, the Delhi Education Minister said, "I challenge the AAP to bring any such circular before the public."
He further accused the party of shielding corrupt individuals and questioned its political intent.
"After all, why does the AAP love corrupt people so much? When Rekha Gupta's government is taking action against them, why is the AAP standing with the corrupt people? They even said that if any child comes to school dressed as Santa Claus, action will be taken against him," he said.
The controversy stemmed from circulars issued by the Directorate of Education (DoE) in November and December, directing educational institutions, including government and private schools, to designate nodal officers for stray-dog-related matters.
On December 29, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) shared a news report on the social media platform X claiming that Delhi school teachers had been deployed for a citywide stray dog count.
Reacting to the report, the party alleged that the Rekha Gupta-led government was misusing teachers, stating, "This is the day we were waiting to see. The teachers whom the Kejriwal government used to send abroad for training, now the Rekha Gupta government will have them count street dogs."
Meanwhile, the Delhi government has dismissed reports claiming that the Centre has requested all educational institutions, schools, and stadiums to nominate Nodal Officers for stray dog matters and to share details of the same as "fake news," according to an official notice.
The notice issued by the Caretaking Branch of the Delhi Directorate of Education further instructed the schools to submit details of the nodal officers in a specific format. The details should include the name, designation, contact number, and email of the Nodal officers. All the schools (government schools, aided schools, and unaided recognised schools), stadiums, and sports complexes will submit these details.
The directive has been issued in view of a previous order by the apex court dated November 7, 2025, and a follow-up meeting dated November 20, which was focused on top-priority safety measures. The government clarified that there was no such instruction to any educational institution to conduct a census of stray dogs. (ANI)