'Not one vote to BJP, CPIM or Congress': Mamata announces after 26,000 teachers lose jobs in Bengal

"Not one vote for the BJP or CPM or Congress, not from teachers, not from any government worker," the Chief Minister thundered at an election rally.

"The BJP has purchased the court -- the High Court, not the Supreme Court," she said clarifying, "I still hope for justice from the Supreme Court."

"They (the BJP) have bought the High Court. They have bought the CBI. They have bought the NIA. They have bought the BSF. They have bought the CAPF. They have turned the colour of Doordarshan saffron -- they will only talk about the BJP and Modi ka baat. Don't watch it. Boycott it," Banerjee said.

The Calcutta High Court on Monday cancelled the recruitment of 24,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in government-sponsored and government-aided schools, dismissing the entire 2016 teacher recruitment panel.

The panel was constituted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).

A division bench comprising Justices Debangshu Basak and Md. Shabbar Rashidi said during the hearing that teachers who were illegally recruited will have to return their salaries within four weeks.

The bench has also ordered a reevaluation of 23 lakh OMR sheets which were filled during the recruitment process.

The court has asked WBSSC to start a new recruitment process.

Soon after the order, Mamata Banerjee announced that her government would move the higher court challenging the verdict.

Erstwhile state education minister Partha Chatterjee, former primary education board president and Trinamool MLA Manik Bhattacharya, youth leader Kuntal Ghosh are among the people who have been arrested so far in connection with the scam.

Former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Ganguly, who is now contesting the Lok Sabha elections on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket, had ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.