LUCKNOW, Sept. 4 -- With schools emerging as a political talking point, the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh is using Teachers' Day to sharpen its attack over what it alleges are the closures of 26,000 primary and junior high schools by the BJP government over the past decade in the name of mergers.

The party has directed its cadres to gather outside these campuses under the banner of 'Pathshala Pukare'. The programme aims to turn the occasion meant to honour teachers into a visible campaign highlighting what the Opposition terms a "decade-long assault on rural education."

The move comes amid a wider focus on government school infrastructure and facilities and the "School Thik Karo" campaign, a grassroots civic initiative launched ...