UP: Akhilesh criticises Deputy CM Maurya over HC verdict on 69,000 teacher recruitment

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav has sharply criticised Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya following the Allahabad High Court’s decision to cancel the selection list in the 69,000 teacher recruitment case.

The High Court’s verdict was seen as a victory for candidates who had long been contesting the government’s alleged violation of reservation rules during the recruitment process.

In a social media post on platform X (formerly Twitter), Akhilesh Yadav took a jab at Maurya, stating, “Those who give pain, should not claim to give medicine!” Yadav’s comment was in response to Maurya’s statement that the High Court’s decision was a result of the candidates’ struggle and a victory for them.

Akhilesh Yadav accused Maurya of hypocrisy, suggesting that the Deputy Chief Minister was initially complicit in undermining the candidates’ rights but is now trying to portray himself as their sympathiser after the court ruling.

“First, he himself was involved with the government in usurping the rights of reservation, and when the youth fought against him and got justice after a long struggle, he came forward to prove himself sympathetic,” Yadav wrote.

Yadav further implied that Maurya’s statements were part of a political strategy within the BJP, using the teacher recruitment issue to further his own position.

He urged the BJP to keep education and youth issues out of their internal political battles, warning that such power struggles have set Uttar Pradesh back by several years.

In response, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya retaliated with a sharp counterattack, referring to Akhilesh Yadav and the SP’s alliance with the Congress as the “PDA” (Bahadur Congress pawn) and labelling it a “big fraud.”

He accused the Samajwadi Party of spreading

falsehoods, much like their claim during the Lok Sabha elections that the Constitution would be abolished. Maurya declared that the BJP is both the present and the future of Uttar Pradesh, promising a repeat of their 2017 electoral success in 2027.

The controversy stems from ongoing accusations by teacher recruitment candidates that the Uttar Pradesh government did not adhere to reservation rules during the selection process.

After numerous petitions were filed, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday invalidated the government’s selection list and granted the administration three months to release a new list that complies with reservation guidelines.