'BJP playing double game': Opposition slams Yogi govt over teachers recruitment case

NEW DELHI: The opposition leaders criticised the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh over the teachers recruitment case with Priyanka Gandhi accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of playing a "double game" with the youth from both reserved and unreserved categories.

"The anti-youth and anti-social justice attitude adopted by the BJP in the matter of recruitment of 69,000 teachers in UP is shocking. By playing a double game, youth from both reserved and unreserved categories are being harmed socially, economically and mentally," the Congress leader said in a post on X.

This comes a day after the Supreme Court stayed the high court order which had directed the state government to prepare a revised list of 69,000 assistant teachers selected through the ATRE in 2019.

Calling it injustice against Dalit and candidates of underprivileged castes, Priyanka said, "First, the reservation scam in the recruitment process took away the rights of hundreds of Dalit and backward candidates. And even now the BJP's intention is to delay and misdirect social justice. This injustice must stop."

यूपी में 69,000 शिक्षक भर्ती मामले में भाजपा ने ​जैसा युवा और सामाजिक न्याय विरोधी रवैया अपनाया है, वह हैरान करने वाला है। दोहरा खेल, खेलकर आरक्षित और अनारक्षित- दोनों श्रेणी के युवाओं पर सामाजिक, आर्थिक एवं मानसिक रूप से आघात किया जा रहा है।

पहले भर्ती ​प्रक्रिया में आरक्षण…

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) September 10, 2024

Bahujan Samaj Party matriarch Mayawati also called upon the Yogi government asking it to adopt an "honest stand" in the matter.

"There should be no injustice done to the candidates of reserved category in the UP teacher recruitment case. They should definitely get their constitutional rights. Also, the government should adopt an honest stand in this matter, so that no injustice is done to them," she said in post on X.

यू.पी. शिक्षक भर्ती मामले में आरक्षित वर्ग के अभ्यार्थियों के साथ अन्याय नहीं होना चाहिए। उन्हें अपना संवैधानिक हक जरूर मिलना चाहिए। साथ ही, सरकार इस मामले में अपना ईमानदार रूख़ अपनाए, ताकि इनके साथ कोई भी नाईन्साफी ना हो।

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) September 10, 2024

In 2018, the state government decided to fill 69,000 assistant teacher vacancies and to conduct the ATRE-2019 as a qualifying exam for recruitment and selection to these positions, in line with the 22nd amendment to the Service Rules of 1981.

Following this, a petition was filed against the state government's circular dated January 7, 2019, which pertained to the qualifying examination for ATRE-19.