Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya once again left his party red faced and cornered his own government over the Allahabad High Court’s judgement cancelling the entire list of 69 thousand recruited primary teachers and ordering the state government to prepare a fresh list that followed the reservation rules.
These primary teachers were selected in 2019 during Yogi Adityanath government’s first tenure in the state.
Maurya joined the opposition leaders in welcoming the high court's verdict and said that it was a victory for the Dalits and other backward caste members, who had fought a long battle to get their rights.
‘’The HC verdict is a welcome step in the process of social justice….it's a victory for the dalits and OBC members who waged a long battle for their rights,’’ Maurya said in a post in Hindi on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.
शिक्षकों की भर्ती में इलाहाबाद हाईकोर्ट का फ़ैसला सामाजिक न्याय की दिशा में स्वागत योग्य कदम है। यह उन पिछड़ा व दलित वर्ग के पात्रों की जीत है जिन्होंने अपने अधिकार के लिए लंबा संघर्ष किया। उनका मैं तहेदिल से स्वागत करता हूं।
— Keshav Prasad Maurya (@kpmaurya1) August 17, 2024
The Allahabad High Court scrapped the teachers’ list on the ground that reservation norms were not followed.
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, Congress state unit chief Ajay Rai and BSP supremo Mayawati have also welcomed the court's verdict. BJP allies Nishad Party and union minister Anupriya Patel have also hailed the ruling of the court.
The state government, however, was mulling to challenge the high court's verdict in the Supreme Court, according to the sources.
Maurya had earlier launched a veiled attack on Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath at the state BJP executive committee meeting over the latter's alleged neglect of the party organisation, senior saffron party leader.
He had again fired yet another salvo at Adityanath over reservation in contractual appointments made in different departments by the state government.
The deputy CM also sought to convey the message that party workers were not being accorded due respect in the Adityanath government and this was also one of the reasons behind the poor performance of the party in the state in the LS polls.
Maurya’s remarks were perceived to be aimed at Adityanath, who, in his address, sought to drive home the message that the government was above the organization.
Maurya had also made his displeasure over Adityanath’s style of functioning known to the central leadership of the saffron party. He had also maintained distance from the meetings convened by the chief minister.