BPSC exam row: Prashant Kishor, on hunger strike, claims ‘DSP post being sold for ₹1.5 crore’

Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor's “fast unto death,” in support of protesting students demanding the cancellation of the Bihar Civil Services (BPSC) exam, entered its third day on Saturday amid chilly weather. He accused officials of selling more than half of the BPSC seats.

"The issue is of bigger corruption charges... it is that more than half of the seats are sold. The re-examination being held today is for 15,000 students. The protesting 3.50,000 students did not get the opportunity to sit in the exam. It does not matter when you appear in the examination, it does not guarantee you a seat if you studied well... the seat is only given to those who gave the money to the corrupt people," Prashant Kishor told news agency ANI.

Kishor also claimed that the post of deputy superintendent of police (DSP) was being sold for ₹1.5 crore and that people were doing so openly without government action.

"The post of DSP is being sold out at ₹1.5 crore, people are openly doing that - the government is not commenting on it... the public's action on this will definitely be seen after 5 years, like it was seen when Nitish Kumar got a low number of seats during the elections," Kishor alleged.

Kishor clarified that he would not end his fast until the students' demands were addressed. "There is no question of withdrawing my fast, not until the demands of the students are met. We suggested from our end that the CM should meet the students and together they should bring out a solution. If that happens then I have no problem stopping the fast," he said.

The students are demanding the cancellation of the Integrated Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination (CCE) 2024, which the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) held on December 13 due to alleged question paper leaks.

Protests over BPSC exam

Protests escalated on Friday over demands to cancel the recent Bihar PSC exam, with demonstrators disrupting rail and road traffic in Patna while police blocked some Left-leaning student groups from marching to the chief minister's residence.

Ahead of fresh tests for selected candidates, Independent MP Pappu Yadav led his supporters in blocking trains and roads in various areas of Patna, as well as in Araria, Purnea, and Muzaffarpur. Protesters briefly halted train movement by sitting on the tracks at Sachivalaya halt railway station.

Yadav’s supporters also set tyres on fire in Purnea and Patna, according to officials.

Police clashed with members of some Left-leaning student organisations when they were prevented from marching to the CM's residence in the state capital. Several Congress, CPI-ML (Liberation), CPI(M), and CPI leaders and MLAs joined the protest, but they were stopped by police at Dak Bungalow, Golumber.

Left parties have announced state-wide protests on January 6 in support of the students.

Patna Police filed cases against Congress and Left party MLAs for taking part in the procession, causing law and order issues, and disrupting traffic. The MLAs named in the case include Shakil Ahmad, Gopal Ravidas, Mahboob Alam, Suryakant Paswan, Sandeep Saurav, Satyadev Ram, Ajeet Kushwaha, Amarjeet Kushwaha, Satyendra Yadav, and Sriprakash Ranjan, among others.

Later in the evening, Left-leaning student organisations held a candle march in Patna to support the protesting BPSC aspirants.

(With ANI, PTI inputs)