Thursday's police crackdown on protesting teachers has reignited political activities by Opposition parties in Bengal, bringing the issue of teachers and non-teaching staff left jobless following a Supreme Court order back to the forefront.

The issue had taken a backseat following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. The police action prompted the BJP and the CPM to hit the streets to corner the Mamata Banerjee government once again.

Besides, the Trinamool Congress is under pressure after Friday's Supreme Court order that directed the state government to clear 25 per cent of its employees' dearness allowance (DA) dues within three months.

BJP leaders in Bengal, who are also conducting the Tiranga Yatra to hail the Indian Army and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Operation Sindoor's success, have expressed their support for the protesting teachers.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari met the protesting teachers on Friday evening, and the party's Purulia MP, Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato, on Saturday wrote to the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, requesting him to take suo motu cognisance of the police brutality against the teachers on May 15.

While addressing the protesting teachers, Adhikari announced that BJP MLAs would launch a protest and bring the Assembly proceedings to a halt on June 9.

"A teacher holds one of the most respected positions in our society. So the police not only beat them up but also hurt the sentiment of the people and the social standing of the teaching community. It affects everyone," said the BJP's Rajya Sabha member Samik Bhattacharya.

"Our party stands with the protesting teachers. We don’t view this as a political issue, but as a social crisis that the Trinamool Congress has exposed by targeting the community," Bhattacharya added.

The teachers had been protesting in front of Bikash Bhavan to prevent the Bengal government from notifying a fresh recruitment process for the posts vacated following the court order, which had sacked 25,753 school staff.

CPM leaders said they had supported the teachers from day one and would continue to do so, as they believed the Mamata Banerjee government wronged the educated youths in an attempt to hide its institutional corruption.

CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said the party launched statewide protests on Friday and Saturday against the police brutality and criticised BJP leaders like Adhikari, who was once part of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

"We have supported the teachers from the very beginning, but we don’t want to politicise the matter. However, those leaders who were part of the Trinamool Congress when the corruption occurred are now expressing solidarity as members of the Opposition," said Chakraborty.

Political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty has said it is too early to say whether the CPM and the BJP will gain political advantage from the police crackdown on the protesting teachers.

"In earlier cases, we saw that the Opposition, including the BJP, failed to capitalise on governance issues against Mamata Banerjee. Although leaders are showing up to support the protesting teachers, they haven’t managed to transform it into a statewide movement," said Chakraborty.

"For me, it is too early to say whether the Opposition will benefit politically from this issue at all," he added.

TMC leaders argued that Mamata Banerjee had stood by the teachers who lost their jobs and had taken several measures to help them, while accusing the BJP and the CPM of politicising the matter.

"This is a legal battle, and Mamata Banerjee has been doing her best to support those teachers — taking multiple steps, including the decision to file a review petition in the Supreme Court. I request those teachers protesting in front of Bikash Bhavan not to fall into the trap laid by the BJP and CPM, who are exploiting their job losses," said TMC leader Kunal Ghosh.