BY MOHAMMAD TARIQUE SALEEM
In a decisive show of organisational strength, Samajwadi Party national president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on September 28th convened a high-level meeting of party legislators and candidates at the party’s state headquarters in Lucknow to finalise strategy for the forthcoming Legislative Council elections in the teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies. The deliberations produced a clear roadmap and a series of firm commitments that Akhilesh Yadav later placed before the media with characteristic directness.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Yadav issued a strong appeal to elect SP candidates in the teachers’ and graduates’ segments, declaring that a Samajwadi government is on the horizon. “A Samajwadi Party government is coming in the state. We will restore the old pension scheme for employees. This will be part of our election manifesto,” he announced, striking at the heart of a long-standing grievance among government employees.
Yadav reminded the gathering that the Samajwadi Party’s association with teachers dates back to the time of Netaji. “Whenever opportunity arose, the Samajwadi Party took decisions in the interest of teachers,” he said. He recalled that the earlier SP government had allocated ₹200 crore in the budget for the honorarium of finance-less teachers and pledged that future budgets would continue to make adequate provision for the same.
Critically, he promised the restoration of Sections 12, 18 and 21 that safeguard service security for teachers and regulate the salaries of ad-hoc principals, provisions that, according to the party, were undermined under the present dispensation. Turning to the sensitive issue of minority educational institutions, Yadav accused the BJP government of discriminating against madrasas while practising “appeasement politics that spreads hatred.”
He assured that a Samajwadi government would resolve every problem facing madrasas, restore the salaries of modern madrasa teachers, and clear pending dues. At the same time, he pointed out that Sanskrit teachers had also suffered discrimination. “The Samajwadi Party government had earlier taken decisions for Sanskrit teachers. Going forward, the problems of Sanskrit schools will be resolved,” he said, projecting an inclusive vision for traditional education systems. Yadav reserved special criticism for the treatment of Shiksha Mitras. “The BJP government gave them only half-baked jobs.
It was the Samajwadi Party government that converted Shiksha Mitras into regular teachers, raised their salaries and restored their dignity. We will again convert Shiksha Mitras into teachers and honour them,” he declared. Describing the BJP as “orthodox, archaeological and negative,” Yadav charged that the present government had ruined the education system and destroyed government schools. “In a Samajwadi government we will solve the problems of government schools. We will end the semester system in schools. We will also address the issues of instructors, employment guarantee workers and Anganwadi workers. Their demands will be included in our manifesto. For competitive examination aspirants, we will issue a job calendar,” he promised.
In a significant organisational move, Yadav formally introduced the party’s candidates for the teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies and appealed for their victory: Lal Bihari Yadav (Mirzapur-Varanasi teachers), Sushil Kumar (Lucknow teachers), Prakash Chandra Gupta (Agra teachers), Kamlesh Yadav (Gorakhpur-Faizabad teachers), Danish Akhtar (Moradabad-Bareilly teachers), Nitin Tomar (Meerut teachers), Ashutosh Sinha (Varanasi graduates), Dr. Maan Singh (Jhansi graduates), Shashank Yadav (Agra graduates), Parminder Bhati (Meerut graduates), and Kanti Singh (Lucknow graduates).
Closing his address at Lohia Auditorium, Yadav invoked the socialist legacy of the freedom struggle. “Sardar Bhagat Singh was himself a socialist. He founded the first socialist party. His contribution to the freedom struggle can never be forgotten. Through the struggles of Bhagat Singh, Mahatma Gandhi and the martyrs, the country gained freedom and its laws. Baba Saheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar gave us the finest Constitution in the world. But today the Constitution and the laws of the country face a threat.” With these words, Akhilesh Yadav positioned the Samajwadi Party not merely as an electoral contender in the Legislative Council polls but as the defender of teachers’ dignity, social justice and constitutional values, an impactful message that is likely to resonate far beyond the immediate electoral battle.
