UP police lathicharge protesting teachers in Lucknow; Congress & SP slam Yogi govt

Aghast at the UP police lathicharging protesting teachers, Congress on Saturday, condemned the Yogi Adityanath government for attacking them. Sharing visuals from Lucknow, police are seen brutally thrashing teachers who had taken out a candle march demanding recruitment of 69,000 teachers to vacant posts in the state. The 403-seat UP assembly where Yogi rules with an iron-clad majority of 314 seats, is up for grabs in February 2022.

UP police lathicharge protesting teachers

Similarly, Samajwadi Party also slammed the CM for the brutal attack on teachers. Claiming that after killing farmers and the downtrodden, Adityanath govt was now attacking teachers who were peacefully protesting. Assuring change, SP touted that the govt will change in 2022.

Recently, the UP govt faced fire after the Uttar Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) 2021 examination paper which was scheduled on November 28 got leaked. The question paper went viral via numerous WhatsApp groups in Mathura, Ghaziabad, and Bulandshahr just before the test. At least 25 persons have been taken into custody and the matter has been tasked to the Special Task Force (STF).

Promising action, UP CM Yogi Adityanath tweeted, "The state government is standing with the candidates of UPTET. The re-examination will be conducted in a transparent manner within one month. No additional fee will be charged from any candidate. The candidates appearing for the examination will be given free travel facilities in Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTCHQ) buses." UP police has confiscated one set of UP TET 2021 question papers, six admit cards, and three mobile phones from one of the accused.

BJP polls 2022

With BJP fighting under the leadership of incumbent CM Yogi Adityanath, several fronts have cropped up to challenge the ruling BJP. SP chief Akhilesh Singh Yadav has stated that SP will only ally with smaller political parties for the 2022 Assembly polls, holding talks with Mahan Dal, NCP, SBSP. Mayawati has already announced that her party will fight polls alone in UP and Uttarakhand, while allying only with Akali Dal in Punjab. Congress has aggressively campaigned under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi in the state, eyeing its solo return.