Stormy scenes were witnessed inside and outside the ruling BJP’s State office in Lucknow on Saturday when hundreds of candidates seeking government teaching jobs tried to enter the party’s office which led to a face-off with police, leading to use of force to control the demonstrators.
The protesters alleged that BJP activists and police mercilessly beat them. The aspirants were demanding appointments in the Education Department, which they alleged has indulged in malpractice in the teachers recruitment process initiated for 69,000 posts. The U.P. police detained the aspirants and sent them to Eco Garden park before releasing them.
The candidates have been protesting against the U.P. government for a long time over the issue holding demonstrations at the Education Directorate, other government offices and the State Education Minister’s residence. The merit list of 69,000 teachers released in June 2020 saw multiple petitions being moved in courts with the Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow bench cancelling one merit list of 6,800 reserved category candidates in March 2023, asking the State government to reconsider the entire merit list.
“The list of 6,800 reserved category candidates were released two years back, but we were not given appointment letters. Today, we reached the BJP office to meet the State president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, but the BJP activists and police mercilessly beat us. We would be forced to demonstrate outside the State Legislature, if our demands are not accepted,” an aggrieved protester said.
