BPSC Students Protest: Tejashwi Yadav Meets Protesters, Writes to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar for Exams Cancellation (Watch Video)
Patna, December 22: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday wrote to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, seeking the cancellation of competitive exams conducted recently, under controversial circumstances, by the state’s Public Service Commission. The former deputy chief minister, who had on late Saturday night visited the site in the state capital where candidates have been carrying out a round-the-clock protest, shared on X a screenshot of the two-page letter addressed to his ex-boss.
Yadav, who is now the Leader of the Opposition, warned “many of the protesters I met last night have fallen ill. If anything untoward happens, the blame shall be on the government and the BPSC Chairman”. Yadav had visited Gardani Bagh locality where he was told by the protesters that they were opposed to the decision of the Bihar Public Service Commission to order re-exam only at Bapu Pariksha Parisar, one of the over 900 centres where, on December 13, the combined competitive exams were held. Aspirants Protest in Patna, Demand Re-examination of 70th BPSC Exam.
The young leader had told the protesters, “Be steadfast in your resolve. Rest assured that for every step you take, Tejashwi shall move forward with four paces.” In his letter to the JD(U) supremo, the RJD leader said he agreed with the protesting candidates’ contention that if an exam for some aspirants was held “on a different date, with a different set of question papers” there will be “no level-playing field”. Notably, hundreds of aspirants at the Bapu Pariksha Parisar had boycotted the tests, alleging that question papers had been leaked.
The allegation met with a strong denial from the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC), which claimed the disruptions were caused by “anti-social elements” who had turned up as part of a “conspiracy” to get the exams cancelled. The commission, however, has ordered re-examination for about 5,000 candidates who were assigned to the examination centre. Yadav also drew the attention of the chief minister to the protesters’ objection to “private agencies” being hired for the manpower required for holding such exams.
Invigilators and fourth-grade staff deployed at exam centres were appointed through these agencies. Incidentally, one such personnel, appointed through a private agency, was Ram Iqbal Singh, who suffered a heart attack at the Bapu Pariksha Parisar and died on his way to a hospital, prompting the local administration to blame protesting candidates for the death and recommending that they be charged with murder. Khan Sir Joins BPSC Protest in Bihar: Educator and YouTuber Takes Part in Stir Led by Aspirants, Says тАЩWonтАЩt Move Until Removal of Normalisation Is Assured (Watch Video).
Tejashwi Yadav Meets Protesters
VIDEO | Here’s what Bihar Assembly LoP and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) said while meeting protesting BPSC aspirants in Patna.
“Stay united and strong. If you take one step forward, Tejashwi will take four steps to support you… The 70th BPSC examination must beтАж pic.twitter.com/eWOXoGLC9Q
тАФ Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 21, 2024
Yadav also demanded an investigation into the claim of protesters that “model test papers” of many private coaching institutes “tallied more than 25 per cent” with the actual question papers and remarked “this could be more than a mere coincidence”. Making it clear that he would settle for nothing less than a re-examination for all the nearly five lakh candidates who had appeared for the December 13 tests, the RJD leader also said, “About 90,000 students could not take the tests as online forms could not be submitted in time because of a problem with the server. They should also get a chance”.
