A letter dated 26 November 2023 of UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya has surfaced. This letter was written by Keshav Maurya to the Chief Minister on behalf of 69000 teacher candidates, pointing out the anomalies in the reservation of teacher recruitment. In this, he had said that there has been a discrepancy in the reservation of backward and Dalits in this recruitment and both the National Backward Classes Commission and the State Backward Classes Commission have accepted the claims of OBC and Dalit candidates as correct, so justice should be done to the deprived class.
Now that the decision of the double bench of the High Court has come in favor of these teacher recruitment candidates and the High Court has ordered to cancel the old list and issue a new list, Keshav Maurya’s letter is being discussed a lot in political circles. After the letter came to light, one thing became clear that the government remained in the dark and the officials sitting in the government played a game by implementing the reservation roster arbitrarily. After this, not only did the issue of reservation in the elections in UP be raised most strongly against the government, but BJP also lost the elections in UP.
Keshav Maurya stood strongly in support of the candidates
This letter made one more thing clear that the people sitting at the top in the government did not have a consensus on the issue of teacher recruitment. But Deputy CM Keshav Maurya stood firmly in support of OBC and Dalit candidates, while the people in the government did not listen to anyone on this issue.
Now that the BJP lost the elections in Uttar Pradesh in such a way that it did not get a majority even at the Centre, the UP government’s stance on reservation has also changed. After the decision of the double bench of the High Court, the Yogi government has now decided to implement the decision of the High Court instead of challenging it in the Supreme Court.
Party leaders are citing Keshav Maurya’s letter
Many party leaders are now citing Keshav Maurya’s letter to him and saying that the party is already standing in favor of OBC and Dalit candidates and has already tried to solve their issue.
People within the party have started saying that if the same decision, which the Yogi government has taken now after the High Court double bench decision, had been taken before the elections, then such a big political loss would not have happened.
Well, if seen from a political point of view, BJP has lost its political ground on the issue of reservation and Samajwadi Party is taking advantage of it by forming PDA. The OBC and Dalit reservation scam in the 69000 teacher recruitment has spoiled the image of BJP before the 2024 elections, so much so that the issue of BJP opposing reservation has vanished into thin air.
The narrative of ‘save the constitution and save reservation’ brought BJP down from the sky to the ground in Uttar Pradesh. BJP which had won 64 seats, could win only 33 seats. The party and the organization also accepted that the way BJP was presented as anti-reservation spoiled the atmosphere of the party. But BJP leaders and the Yogi government could not understand that 69000 teacher recruitment candidates alone had a big hand in labelling BJP as anti-reservation.
These candidates, who have been continuously raising the issue of giving OBC and Dalit reservation to upper castes in the 69000 teacher recruitment for the last 5 years, have not left any doorstep of any leader where they have not raised the issue of reservation scam in teacher recruitment.
Candidates launched campaign against BJP in the elections
These candidates protested outside Keshav Maurya’s government bungalow dozens of times, protested outside the Chief Minister’s residence, protested outside the BJP office and when nothing came out of it, these candidates also started a campaign against the BJP in the elections. They created such an atmosphere that the BJP takes votes from the backward classes and also eats up their reservation.
On one side the government was adamant and on the other side these OBCs and Dalits were adamant about their rights. Finally the court gave a decision in favour of these candidates and the government had to bow down. But the level of trust is such that after the Chief Minister’s assurance that a new list will be released and the reservation rules will be followed completely, the candidates are not ready to back down. They are not ready to leave the protest until they get the letter in their hands.
The only solace for BJP is that although they lost the election, but when these OBC and Dalit candidates were fighting, their OBC leader was also standing with them.
Protest continues in Lucknow
It is worth noting that the Yogi government has received a big setback from the Allahabad High Court in the 69 thousand teacher recruitment case in UP. The High Court has directed the state government to prepare a new merit list. In this, teachers are more worried than the government. Their jobs are in danger. Regarding this matter, all the candidates related to the recruitment are protesting in Lucknow with their demands. Candidates from different districts of Uttar Pradesh have reached outside the Directorate of Basic Education. They are demanding appointment letters from the government. Even after the order of the High Court, these candidates do not trust the government and its officials.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)