BPSC Exam Row: Jan Suraaj, Pappu Yadav Back Protesters

Patna: Former political strategist Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party on Monday came out in support of the demand for cancellation of an examination held recently by Bihar Public Service Commission.

The party's national president Manoj Bharti wrote a three-page letter to the chief secretary, seeking "fresh tests at all the centres".

A screenshot of the letter was shared by the party on X, in which Bharti claimed that Jan Suraaj was taking a stand based on feedback received from a three-member team that visited the site of the protest.

In the Combined Competitive Exams held on December 13, rumours of question paper leak had erupted at an examination centre in the capital city, where hundreds of candidates boycotted the tests to register their protest.

However, the BPSC and the local administration claimed those making such allegations were "anti-social elements", who were part of a "conspiracy to force cancellation" of the exams in which nearly five lakh candidates had appeared at more than 900 centres.

Nonetheless, re-examination has been ordered for the more than 5,000 candidates who took the test at Bapu Pariksha Parisar. The protesters contend that cancellation should be ordered across the board, since re-examination for just one centre would go against the principle of "level playing field".

The Jan Suraaj Party's stand comes in the backdrop of the protesters getting full support from Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition who has promised to "walk four steps for ever single pace you move forward".

Meanwhile, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, the independent MP from Purnea who swears by his loyalty to the Congress, also visited the site of the protest and declared his support to the stir.

However, Chandrashekhar Singh, the district magistrate of Patna, issued a strongly worded statement vowing to crack down on the protest which, he claimed, was leading to law and order problems.

"The protest is being led by non candidates (gair pariksharthi) who are trying to mislead the genuine aspirants for political reasons", said the DM.

"Some coaching institutes also seem to be behind the protest which has been marked by baseless and provocative statements, aimed at creating law and order problems. All are being identified for strict action", the DM added.

He also said "a handful of the protesters today went to the Gardani Bagh hospital, claiming they were on a hunger strike and had taken ill, but ended up manhandling the staff on duty. Three others got admitted to PMCH (largest government hospital in Bihar). Doctors there have confirmed that all of them are stable".