BPSC Protest: Pappu Yadav calls for Bihar Bandh on January 1 if prelims exam not cancelled

Talking to media persons on Wednesday evening, the Purnea MP demanded a High Court bench probe into the matter.

Independent MP from Purnea Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav on Wednesday called for a Bihar bandh on January 1, 2025, if the Combined Competitive Preliminary Examination (CCE Prelims) conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) is not cancelled.

Pappu Yadav with BPSC protesters at Gardanibagh in Patna (Santosh Kumar/ Hindustan Times)

Talking to media persons on Wednesday evening, the Purnea MP demanded a High Court bench probe into the matter.

Speaking to ANI, Yadav said, "We urge all opposition MPs and MLAs to join the protest. People should sit outside the residences of ruling party MPs and MLAs across Bihar. What is political about this? These students have been protesting for so many days, and their only demand is a re-examination."

They allege irregularities in the conduct of the exam, including a paper leak and want cancellation of the entire exam.

BPSC chairman Parmar Ravi Manubhai on Tuesday ruled out the cancellation of the entire exam and said a re-test will be held for those who appeared at Bapu Pariksha Parisar centre in Patna.

Manubhai announced that the re-examination would be held on January 4, 2025.

Bihar Police lathi-charge protesters demanding BPSC 70th CCE prelims re-exam | In pics

Bihar's Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav condemned the lathi charge and launched an attack on the government.

"Till a few months ago, the NDA leaders never tired of calling Nitish Kumar mentally unwell and that he was suffering from some serious illness. Now, the same BJP-LJP-HAM leaders are accepting his dictatorial decisions…." Yadav posted on X.

“Nitish Kumar calls himself a self-proclaimed disciple of JP but hates the democratic protest of students. This is the condition of all selfish NDA leaders,” he added.

The Congress party, too, shared a video on X and wrote, “It is seen in the video that the youth are folding their hands, pleading for mercy, but the ruthless police of Bihar continued to follow the orders of the government.”

“This situation is not just of the youth of Bihar, today across the country, youth are forced to face lathi charge for jobs and employment.”

Hindustan Times could not independently verify the authenticity of these videos being shared on social media.

The Bihar Police issued a statement about the incident, saying mild force was used against the protesters, and no one sustained any injuries.

Police officials claimed that coaching teachers were instigating aspirants to protest and named several social media accounts that were allegedly misleading the students.

"Some teachers are instigating these students, both directly and indirectly. Additionally, many social media handles are misleading and inciting the students," DSP Anu Kumari said.

She added that a candidate vandalized the Gardanibagh hospital on December 23 and on December 25, hundreds of them surrounded the commission's office without permission, creating law and order issues and causing inconvenience to the public.

"The administration used mild force to disperse the gathering, and no one suffered any injuries," she added.

(With inputs from agencies)