Teachers recruitment case: Priyanka slams BJP for playing ‘double game’ with youth

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday, 10 September slammed the BJP over the teachers recruitment case, alleging that it was playing a "double game" with the youth from both reserved and unreserved categories and harming them socially, economically and mentally.

Her remarks come a day after the Supreme Court stayed the Allahabad High Court order asking the Uttar Pradesh government to prepare a fresh selection list for the appointment of 69,000 assistant teachers in the state.

The top court also stayed the High Court verdict setting aside the selection lists of the assistant teachers issued by the state authorities in June 2020 and January 2022, which included 6,800 candidates.

"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, the youth from both reserved and unreserved categories are being harmed socially, economically and mentally," she said in a post in Hindi on X.

"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," she said.

While putting on hold the high court’s verdict, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also issued notices to the state government and others, including the secretary of the UP Basic Education Board, on a plea filed by Ravi Kumar Saxena and 51 others.

The top court said it will accord a final hearing in the matter and asked the counsel for the parties involved to file short written notes not exceeding seven pages.

The bench said it will fix the plea for hearing in the week commencing 23 September.

Earlier, the high court had directed the state government in August to prepare a fresh selection list for the appointment of 69,000 assistant teachers in the state.

A division bench of the high court had issued the order while disposing of 90 special appeals filed by Mahendra Pal and others challenging a single-judge order of 13 March last year.