‘UP’s students get police batons, not jobs’: TMC attacks BJP as 31,000 outsiders sit for West Bengal teacher test

Over 3 lakh candidates, including 31,000 from other states, appeared for West Bengal’s teacher recruitment exam.

Kolkata: As over 31,000 candidates from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and other states took the School Level Selection Test in West Bengal on Sunday, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) sought to turn the tables on the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), highlighting high unemployment in BJP-ruled states.

More than 91% of the nearly 3.19 lakh candidates who registered for the exam appeared at 636 centres across the state. They competed for 23,212 posts to teach Class IX and X in government-run or aided schools, under the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC). A separate test is scheduled for September 14, where over 2.46 lakh candidates will vie for 12,514 posts to teach Class XI and XII at 478 centres.

“I thank the entire state administration for its fullest support to enable us to conduct the exams smoothly,” said Siddhartha Majumdar, chairman of the WBSSC. Tight security was enforced at all centres, and to ensure transparency, candidates were allowed to take home copies of the question papers and answer sheets.

The TMC government has faced sharp criticism from the BJP ever since the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court’s 2024 verdict nullifying the appointment of teachers recruited by the WBSSC in 2016. With assembly elections just a year away, the BJP has used the verdict to attack the ruling TMC, accusing its leaders of large-scale corruption in government recruitment.

On Sunday, over 31,000 candidates from other states—including BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh—appeared for the test.

Instead of focusing on employment, TMC posted on X: “Instead of employment, UP’s students get police batons; instead of a future, they get unemployment queues.” The party shared a video of a candidate from Uttar Pradesh criticizing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government for its poor job prospects.

“This is @BJP4India’s 'double engine' – one engine bulldozes homes, the other bulldozes dreams,” the TMC further mocked, taking aim at the BJP’s governance.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh pointed out that no restrictions barred outsiders from taking the test. “By the way, no one here said that only the residents of West Bengal would be allowed to take the test for jobs in this state. No one stopped them or harassed them,” he said, subtly criticizing BJP-led states where Bengali-speaking migrants have been branded as ‘Bangladeshis’ and subjected to harassment.

The Supreme Court’s order dashed hopes for many teachers who had cleared the 2016 exam fairly but lost their jobs. Some of them took the test again on Sunday. “What’s the guarantee that the scam would not mar the latest recruitment process this year, too, just as it had in 2016?” asked Sharmistha, one such candidate who lost her job due to the Supreme Court verdict.

The apex court had directed the WBSSC not to allow candidates who secured jobs through malpractice in 2016 to reapply. Subsequently, the commission released a list of 1,806 teachers who had allegedly gained employment unfairly.